Healing Love
by SLPikachu
Summary: Luke and Lorelai are trying to adopt and meet a little girl extremely closed in who won't let anyone in. Can they succeed what others failed to accomplish? *On hiatus*
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Luke and Lorelai followed the caseworker, Celia, down the hall to where the playroom was. Luke was the most nervous. After failing to be able to have a kid of their own, the couple finally both agreed on adopting one out of foster care since there were so many in need of a family to call their own.

His heart raced and his palms grew more sweaty with each step they took down the hall of the Hartford Child Protective Services building. Lorelai was at least interacting with the caseworker, as Celia answered her questions. Luke had no idea what to even say, much less ask. Neither one had a preference whether it was a boy or girl, just whichever kid connected with them the most. Since both of them each had a daughter, Luke suggested the possibility of adopting a boy. It would be great to have a son to take fishing and play catch, though Lorelai pointed out he could do that with a daughter, as well. April never wanted to do those things so the thought never occurred to him. Now that she pointed that out, Luke hoped if they did end up with another girl, she would want to do those things with him. They were hoping for someone for Doulia to grow up with, but overall, it didn't matter.

The play room where all the kids were playing, was decorated with Disney characters painted on the wall with Mickey and Minnie Mouse at the center of their view when the three of them walked into the large room. There was a small Playskool playset with a very short slide and a Fisher Price blue and red basketball hoop on one side of the room. In a corner of the room was an area with some bean bag chairs near a couple bookshelves crammed full of children's books, ranging in different reading levels.

There were plastic bins of different colors and sizes full of toys, though some were half full with the toys scattered around on the floor.

Children's music played from a radio in the shape of Lightning McQueen from the Disney/Pixar movie, _Cars_.

Kids ranging from two years to around eleven were busy playing. A few fought over toys while most got along well. There were a few playing alone, or reading while some of the little ones clung to who they assumed were probably older siblings.

Lorelai turned to Luke, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Hey, maybe we should adopt a set of siblings. That way they won't get split up," she suggested.

"But we didn't plan for siblings," he pointed out.

"I know, but I didn't think of it before. Now, seeing their faces and the younger kids clinging to their older siblings..." Lorelai watched a particular set of brothers with a heartbreaking look. If she had it her way, Lorelai would adopt every single kid in the room.

"Those two aren't up for adoption," the caseworker explained. "They were just placed in foster care and will be placed in a foster home until they are able to go home."

"Oh, so not all these kids are adoptable?"

She shook her head. "They're all just waiting until a vacancy becomes available."

Luke was looking around the room, watching the kids. All of them touched his heart, but none of them stuck out to him.

For the next couple of hours, Lorelai and Luke mingled with the kids. Lorelai was doing a better job than Luke was, whose mind raced with what to say. Then finally, after stepping away from a kid who shouted some swear words that he shouldn't have known yet, he wandered across the room to where the slide playset was while Lorelai played _Candyland_ with three of the kids.

Ducking his head to look in one of the wide openings, Luke saw a little girl, no older than eight, curled up in the fetal position. When he kneeled down on one knee and leaned towards the floor, her body tensed up and scooted more against the other side. It was obvious the kid was too old to play in one of those things, but she didn't seem like she was playing, though.

Holding a hand up, he assured her, "I'm not here to hurt ya. I just wanted to see if anyone was in here." Her right cheek was planted to the floor, her eyes pointing straight at him. "Can I ask what your name is?"

The child didn't answer and made no other move since backing further away.

"My, uh, name is Luke." He paused to see if introducing himself might have helped in any way. The kid still remained silent. Being not very good on the whole small talk thing, which he pointed out, Luke tried to think of something that might break the ice. "You like any sports?"

No response.

"Um...how about fishing? Ever been?"

Still nothing.

He asked a few other icebreaker questions but nothing seemed to work. Finally, Luke asked, "you want me to leave ya alone?" and took her silence as a yes. Standing back to his feet, Luke wandered over to where Lorelai was talking to Celia again. They stopped when he rejoined them.

"Meet anyone?"

The whole way, Luke found himself constantly looking over his shoulder, at the playset. When he heard Lorelai, he turned forward at her. "Uh, well…" Luke turned to Celia, pointing over his shoulder, "Who's that kid over there in the slide?"

Celia moved her head to look around him, seeing who he was referring to. She had to duck to see better. Once Celia realized who it was, she sighed, sadly. "That's Jaiden. She's been with us since she was four after she was pulled out of her mom's home."

"Is she adoptable?" Lorelai asked, curious. Her arms folded, lightly across her chest.

"Well, yes but she won't let anybody get close enough. Honestly, in the four years I've known her, I've never even heard her speak," she explained to the couple.

"May we ask what happened to have her pulled from her mom's home?"

Celia nodded, "Mostly abuse. A neighbor stated Jaiden was basically her mother's personal punching bag."

Lorelai's heart couldn't help shatter as she gave a heartfelt expression. "Poor kid."

"I know," she agreed. "The mother had a bachelor's degree in business, worked for a really good company. The family was high class," she shrugged, holding it for a few seconds. "Not to mention very intelligent. But I guess she wasn't really happy. Took it all out on her daughter. Even took a knife to her."

Luke kept looking between the caseworker and over where Jaiden was hiding. He felt drawn to go back over there. In fact, he had felt drawn there, in the first place.

"Kid's so closed in...None of us know what to do at this point. It's a long trial whenever we have to get her out of there. Night terrors haunt her at night…"

Everything went mute as Luke stared over at the playset. His heart broke hearing what the kid had gone through and had no one she could count on. A parent was supposed to be there for their child, not harm them. He couldn't imagine ever being afraid of his parents, as a kid. How frightening that must be, then to be taken somewhere to be around strangers and not know where you're going or what's going to happen to you, and all these people trying to get to know you. That would have freaked him out. Luke couldn't help wonder how freaked out Jaiden could have been.

"Luke. Luke. Luke!"

Luke snapped out his thoughts, once again, turning to Lorelai. "Huh?"

"I asked, what are you thinking about?" she asked.

"Uh…" He wasn't sure what to say and looked back towards Jaiden. Finally, Luke admitted about how he seemed to be drawn towards the kid. "I think… I think she might be the one, Lorelai."

Lorelai stared at him, puzzled. "You mean Jaiden?"

"Yeah." He looked back again.

"I mean, you can give it a shot," Celia told him. "I'm sure a permanent home is all Jaiden needs, but," she shrugged. "The problem is, I don't know if she'll even let you."

"Well, you never know until you try," said Lorelai.

"That is true, but I've seen so many families come through and try to get to know her. My heart breaks every time they have to give up."

Luke looked forward at that. "Well, there's your problem." He wasn't sure where that outburst had come from. It actually surprised him more than it did the women. But Lorelai knew what he was getting at.

"If everyone keeps giving up on her, of course she's not gonna get used to anyone," she said.

"Fair enough," Celia nodded and couldn't help smile. "So, would you start the process on Jaiden, then?"

Lorelai looked over at Luke. "Luke?"

He didn't even have to think on it. "Absolutely."

She turned back to the caseworker. "Let's do it."

Both Luke and Lorelai had already gone through the background check and classes prior to meeting the children, as well as the home inspection. All that needed to be done was getting them on Jaiden's case plan. They started with weekly visits, twice a week at the CPS office. They were also given a copy of her case file which Luke and Lorelai read through before the first visit.

They waited in a room like the play room only smaller while the caseworker went to fetch Jaiden.

Lorelai had gotten Jaiden a present to help make a good first impression. She was sitting at the table in the center of the room while watching Luke pace around the room. "Luke."

He stopped pacing to look over at her. "What?"

"Will you stop pacing? You're making me dizzy," she told him.

Luke let out a breath of air. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just nervous." He held his hands on his sides.

"It'll be fine."

He took a deep breath, letting it out. "I know. It's just...seeing her, last time…" Luke stared at the floor.

At that moment, the door opened and in walked Celia, leading Jaiden, who looked catatonic.

"Sorry it took so long. As I said before, it takes awhile."

"Not a problem," Lorelai replied and turned to smile over at the little girl. Luke couldn't see before since she was laying down with her cheek to the floor, but right across was a jagged, deep scar. It kind of made it look like she was a part of the mob. "Hey, sweetheart."

Jaiden kept her gaze on the floor, keeping her arms pinned at her side.

"My name is Lorelai, and you remember Luke, right?"

Luke tried to smile for her, but Jaiden's gaze remained, unmoved.

Lorelai reached over to pick up the present they had gotten for her and held it out to Jaiden. "We brought you something. Would you like to open it?" They waited to see if she'll take it, giving her a few minutes before Lorelai set it back on the table. "Would you like to play a board game, sweetheart?"

Nothing.

Luke studied the kid.

Celia bent over to be at Jaiden's level, "Jaiden, these people want to get to know you. They're not gonna hurt you. Okay?" The kid was stiff as a board. Pretty much a statue. Both Luke and Lorelai could not imagine what could be going through her mind at the moment.

Lorelai kneeled in front of Jaiden, keeping some distance as not to invade her personal space. "Sweetheart, I know a lot of people have come and gone in your life, and just gave up on you. I just want you to know, Luke and I won't. We will give you all the time you need to get to know us."

Luke moved over to kneel beside Lorelai. "Lorelai's right, sweetie. We're not going anywhere, we can promise you, that."

"Here," Lorelai stood up to grab the present, bringing it back. She pulled out the tissue paper and pulled out a stuffed, brown and black dog. "We thought you'd like a stuffed animal since yours got lost." Lorelai held it out to her as Luke finally stood up again.

To their delight, Jaiden finally moved. She didn't look up, but she took the dog, holding it in her hands. Jaiden stared at the stuffed dog that was in a sitting position.

"You like it, sweetheart?"

The dog even had a red, leather collar with a cardboard dog tag in the shape of a bone if Jaiden wanted to name it. Its pink tongue hung out of its mouth, as well.

"He's all yours," Lorelai smiled for her. "I tried finding one that looks like my dog, but they didn't have one," she shrugged.

Luke was still studying the kid, watching her. Her body still looked tensed and her form was so thin, she was basically a twig. Her skin was pale white and her hair was a very light blonde that grew past her shoulders, though that was mostly because giving Jaiden a haircut was also a challenge since she rarely let anyone near her. It was tangled and messy in a lot of places. The teal and black striped t-shirt Jaiden was wearing looked paper-thin and the tennis shoes looked worn out and the shoelaces on one of them were coming untied.

"What would you like to do, Jaiden?" Lorelai asked. She wasn't even paying attention to how Jaiden looked. All that was her mind, was helping Jaiden feel at ease. Though, don't get Luke wrong. He wanted the same thing. But he couldn't help look at her, especially when Lorelai was doing most of the talking. They waited to see if she responded or at least point to something. Lorelai ended up stepping back, getting out of Jaiden's way and let her do whatever she wanted.

After a few minutes, Jaiden eventually moved, walking across the room. She dropped beside the table, crawling underneath it. At least she took the dog with her and when they ducked their heads to look under there, Jaiden was holding it close in her arms.

"She seems to accept the dog," Lorelai said, hopeful.

"Has she accepted gifts before?" Luke finally asked.

Celia shook her head. "Not really."

"Then, we're already making progress?" Lorelai asked, eagerly.

"I mean, her other dog was a gift too. That was the only other gift she has accepted."

She shrugged, "So, maybe she likes dogs."

Celia held her hands on her hips. "It's possible. She has gotten along with a dog whenever I place her in a foster home that had one."

"Would it be alright if next time I brought my dog?"

"We would have to have the next visit be at a park, but that would be alright," she nodded over at Lorelai.

Jaiden remained under the table for the rest of the first visit. They each said good-bye to her, but she didn't respond, back, nor did Jaiden even look up at them. On Thursday, the four of them met at a park. Of course, Luke and Lorelai were the first ones there.

Once Celia and Jaiden arrived, they walked over to where they were waiting for them.

Lorelai introduced Jaiden to Paul Anka, the dog. The dog instantly took to the kid, but did the kid take to the dog? Paul Anka panted as he stared up at the kid, sitting back on his haunches. Finally, Jaiden reached out and slowly moved her hand to pet his head. After a few minutes, Jaiden knelt down and moved her hand along Paul Anka's back, rubbing his neck, gently. Then, she lowered her head and hugged Paul Anka around the neck.

Lorelai kneeled on the other side of Paul Anka. "You like him, sweetheart?" They noticed her tense up with Lorelai close. She stood up, stepping back beside where Luke was standing. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I wasn't trying to make you feel uncomfortable." At least she still had the stuffed dog with her. Luke and Lorelai still had a long ways to go, though.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"I can't imagine being afraid of the world like that." Rory had called her mom to check in and asked how the adoption process was going. Both her and April had already been told of their parents' plans to adopt. April had expressed her request for a little sister while Rory had confessed she wasn't kidding when she had once said she wanted a little brother, but wouldn't be disappointed to have a sister.

Lorelai was heading from the house to the diner to meet up with Luke to make their next visit with Jaiden when Rory had called, and filled her in on everything. "Neither can I, kid," she agreed into the phone, Paul Anka at her feet. "Jaiden had nobody. It's heartbreaking just thinking about it, but heart-shattering looking at her. I don't know how we're going to get through to her."

"Well, just show her you're willing to love her for who she is," Rory said.

Lorelai scoffed. "Probably easier said than done. Not to mention, a lot of people have probably told her that before they finally gave up on her. Jaiden's more than likely isn't gonna want to trust someone again."

"Though, that is true, but who knows? She may think, 'okay, this may be it. I will try one more time. What do I have left to lose?'"

"Well, let's hope that's true," she shrugged. When Lorelai got to the diner, her and Rory closed their conversation, exchanging love-yous before ending the call. She opened the door, letting Paul Anka in first before following behind.

Luke was bringing food out to a few customers, setting them on the table before greeting her with a kiss. When he noticed the dog, Luke let out an annoyed grunt. "How many times do I need to remind you? Your dog cannot be in here. It's unsanitary." he reminded her.

Letting out a fake gasp, Lorelai told him, "How can you keep family out of your diner?" and grinned.

Holding his hands on his sides, he replied, "Only if they drool, shed, and lick themselves." Luke pointed towards the door. "Now, take him outside." Going into his pocket, he even gave Lorelai the keys to his truck, letting her know he'll be out in a couple minutes. They knew not to be late as that wouldn't help build trust with Jaiden. If she was expecting them at four then that's when they'll be there.

Sure enough, after a couple minutes of finishing up and leaving Caesar in charge, Luke came out where Lorelai already had the truck running. The radio was playing when he slid in under the wheel.

"Come on," he complained about the music choice. Secretly, he was hoping Jaiden would be open to his kind of music so Luke wouldn't feel alone anymore. Of course the music didn't get changed as he drove to Hartford where the park was.

With traffic, it was a forty-five minute drive, pulling into the parking lot of the park at a quarter to four. Jaiden and Celia hadn't gotten there yet, so Lorelai let Paul Anka sniff around as they waited at the designated spot, sitting next to each other. A few minutes till was when they finally arrived.

Jaiden watched her feet, holding the stuffed dog to her chest, as they made their way over when Paul Anka came bounding over to her. While the adults sat at the picnic table, Jaiden sat under the nearby tree with Paul Anka next to her, his head in her lap as she continously petted her hand along the back of his head.

Lorelai tried offering to take her over to the playground, maybe the swings, but Jaiden never responded. Instead, she moved to the other side of the tree where she was hidden from view.

While the adults talked, they noticed another kid had approached Jaiden, asking if she wanted to play. When she didn't get a response either, the kid asked if she could pet Paul Anka. Still nothing.

"Can you talk?" they heard the kid ask then lowered her head towards Jaiden. "Hello. Anybody in there?" Jaiden must not have liked the close proximity because the kid was suddenly knocked backwards. Before they knew it, Jaiden was throwing punches but with her open hands instead of fists, slapping the other girl repeatedly. Would this have happened if Luke or Lorelai hadn't of moved away to give her space? Or was it because it was another kid and not an adult?

Luke, Lorelai, and Celia quickly leaped to their feet and hurried over to break it up, but it was Luke who grabbed Jaiden off of her. Lorelai made sure the other little girl was okay, helping her up while Jaiden struggled against him, who still had a hold on her, unsure what she would do if he let go, in case she tried to attack the little girl again. The little girl was crying as Lorelai tried to comfort her until her mother came over, demanding to know what was going on.

While Lorelai explained what happened, Luke continued to hold the struggling kid, trying to settle her down.

"Jaiden. Jaiden. Settle down, kiddo," he tried to tell her, over and over. It was basically useless so Luke just held on, now making _shhh_ sounds. Celia oversaw the whole thing. Jaiden kept struggling until she grew tired, but even then, it took a good long while and the little girl and her mother had left, who told Lorelai they shouldn't bring an out-of-control child to the park, not at all happy hers was "attacked."

Lorelai had moved closer once the mother and little girl were gone, holding her hands on her knees. "Luke, maybe you should let go," she suggested.

Luke did not respond, not while he was still trying to calm Jaiden down. That actually would have been his first response to do when she started struggling against him, even when she headbutted him which made him bite his tongue as not to yell out any swear words. Actually, yell out in general. Yelling probably would have made things worse. He ended up biting his tongue a second time when she bit him on the arm. Even through his jacket, it hurt. Thankfully, it did protect from breaking the skin. Even through the pain, Luke kept holding on.

"Shhh, shhh. It's okay," he softly told her, quickly switching his hand to around her forehead to pin her head against him so she couldn't headbutt him again. "Shhh...shhh...shhh…" Luke just kept that up, softly in her ear. They could tell when Jaiden was growing tired when she didn't struggle as much. Her chest was heaving in and out and Luke could feel her little heart beating against his other arm he had wrapped around her. Even he was starting to lose his breath but did not give up. Not until Jaiden was calm, and just continued with the _shhh_ s

Fifteen, almost twenty minutes had gone by before Jaiden finally stopped completely. Taking it slow, Luke started to release his hold on her until finally letting go. Once free, she bolted away, falling onto her bottom where she faced him.

Luke was panting as Jaiden watched him with caution.

During the struggle, Lorelai had moved over to pick up Jaiden's stuffed dog where she had dropped it, holding Paul Anka at bay so he wouldn't get kicked in the process if he got too close. Taking things carefully, Lorelai stepped closer and held out the stuffed dog. Jaiden didn't take it, though. She was still staring Luke in the eye, her chest still heaving. Their eyes were locked as no one said anything. With him, Luke was afraid the slightest move would freak her out at this point.

Lorelai watched the two. When Jaiden hadn't taken the dog, she had held onto it, unsure why they were having a staring contest and was the one to break the silence, asking why.

Luke suddenly shushed her without taking his eyes off of Jaiden.

It was Paul Anka who broke up the "staring contest", walking over to the kid. The dog nudged her arm, touching it with his wet nose, causing Jaiden to flinch. When she realized it was only him, Jaiden wrapped her arms around Paul Anka, burying her face into his shaggy fur. That was when Luke took the opportunity to slowly stand to his feet, carefully backing away.

Celia spoke first. "You handled that well," she told him, impressed.

He shrugged modestly. "They told us to do in that class. Restrain them, right? So they couldn't hurt themselves or anyone around them? I almost forgot you weren't supposed to talk to them during that state of mind so I just softly shushed her."

"That's right, and stuff like that is never easy but has to be done for the child's sake," she nodded.

"It doesn't hurt them?" Lorelai asked. That was one of her concerns when the instructor had mentioned it during the class.

Luke was rolling up the sleeve of his jacket, looking at where Jaiden had bitten him. "She got me good," he said and asked if there was a bruise or a bump on his forehead, removing his hat.

Lorelai leaned in closer, staring at his forehead. "Looks fine."

"You sure? That kid clobbered me, hard with that head of hers." Luke rubbed at his forehead for a moment before placing his hat back on his head. It was then he noticed Jaiden was now climbing the tree, alerting the women's attention.

"Jaiden's a climber," Celia informed them, not at all fazed by the act. "Aside from under tables, trees are her second favorite hiding places. Sometimes, she'll stay up there for hours."

"Should we just leave her up there?"

Celia shrugged. "I've tried to make her come down so many times."

"Probably best if we just left her alone," Lorelai suggested, watching as the kid took a seat in a small nook that was just her size, leaning against the tree, hugging herself. Jaiden had never taken back her stuffed dog and Paul Anka wasn't able to climb, of course.

Jaiden ended up staying up there for the remainder of the visit and had come down eventually some time after Luke and Lorelai had left. Lorelai had left the stuffed dog with Celia, to give her when Jaiden finally came down.

The car ride home was in complete silence for the most part. Eventually, it was Luke who broke it.

"You think I might've made things worse by doing that?" He stared forward at the road ahead, briefly glancing over at Lorelai.

Lorelai looked over at him. Paul Anka was laying on the seat between them with his head in Lorelai's lap. "What?" she asked. "You mean when you had to restrain her?"

"Yeah. Do you think she's afraid of me even more?"

"I don't know."

He held his left hand over the steering wheel, resting his wrist on top while he held his right hand on his leg. A sigh escaped his mouth.

"What?"

"I'm not sure." Luke glanced over at her again. "Looking the kid in the eye. I think… It felt like I could feel all of the fear she was holding onto. Like she was a deer trapped in headlights, kind of thing, only ten times worse. You know?" He stole another quick glance. "Are we really sure we know what we're getting into?"

"We're already in too deep to get out now, Luke," she told him. "If we give up now, who knows what will happen to her. It could be the final straw for her."

"I'm not saying give up," he admitted. "It's just…" Luke drifted off on his words, unsure how to describe what it was he was feeling. The look Jaiden wore while they watched each other, haunted his mind and could not be erased.

Even Lorelai had no words to describe what had happened. How Jaiden looked to her. All she could come up with to say was, "It'll get easy, Luke. We just gotta be patient. We just have to hang in there for Jaiden's sake, show her we're here for the long haul. That's all we can do." Even reassuring him, Lorelai couldn't help feel nervous about the whole thing, herself.

He managed to softly mutter, "Yeah," out loud as Luke stared forward. This was new territory for the both of them. But who could be better for Jaiden then the stubborn duo known as Luke and Lorelai?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The visits remained at the park for the next couple of weeks so Paul Anka could remain a part of getting to know Jaiden, who remained isolated and distant. The only difference was how they noticed she had come to watch Luke, carefully. Any time he got close, Jaiden would hold her gaze on him as if he might do something to her, and kept her distance for the most part. So, his suspension may have been correct. But they weren't one hundred percent sure. It was Celia who suggested Jaiden could even been studying him which was actually progress that she did not see coming.

Friday, almost two weeks after the incident at the park, Luke and Lorelai were invited to participate in a Child and Family Team, or CFT, meeting Jaiden's CPS support team holds once a month to discuss how Jaiden was doing and what further actions should be taking place, Jaiden being the main topic.

Since it was an important meeting taking place in an office, they made sure to look their best. Luke even wore a tie and left his baseball cap at home. Celia had filled them in on what to expect at one of those meetings, but it still didn't keep Luke from feeling nervous. Though Lorelai held a confident stature, she too couldn't help feel a little bit nervous on the inside. Celia had explained they had started having these meetings in hopes that it would help Jaiden open up and speak up for herself, and let her voice be heard. So far, it hadn't happened yet.

The meeting was at the CPS office in a small conference room where they took a seat at a long table.

Jaiden was already there, underneath the table, of course.

Lorelai ducked her head to greet her. "Hey, sweetheart." She was glad Jaiden still held onto the stuffed dog. "You doing alright down here?"

Jaiden kept her gaze downward, not giving the woman any kind of attention. When Luke ducked his head to see underneath the table, just her eyes lifted which he gave a kind smile, waving at her. All Jaiden gave back was a careful stare.

The meeting started with Celia leading, asking for everyone there to say their name and how they related to Jaiden, starting first. "I'm Celia Evans, and I am the case manager in charge of Jaiden's case."

Moving clockwise, a woman on Celia's left went next. She was about the size of Sookie, only with blonde curly hair instead. "I am Erica Robertson, and I have been Jaiden's therapist for the past year."

Lorelai was next. "Oh, uh, hi," she waved, cheerfully with a touch of nervousness. "I am Lorelai Danes. Um, not really sure what my title would be other than I would like to get to know Jaiden to hopefully be her adopted mother," she said.

"That was good," Celia smiled in assurance which Lorelai thanked her.

The room grew quiet for a brief moment before Luke asked, "My turn?" Celia nodded towards him. "Uh, my name is Luke Danes, Lorelai's husband, and I also hope to get to know Jaiden so I can be her adopted father."

An older woman in her fifties was sitting across from Luke. Her hair was black and she was tall and thin. "I'm Gabrielle Jennings," she said, "and I am Jaiden's guardian ad litem, or lawyer," she directed that towards Luke and Lorelai even though that was one of the terms they had learned from the classes they took. "I have known Jaiden ever since she came into the state's care, four years ago."

The last person was sitting on the opposite side of an empty seat they presumed was supposed to be Jaiden's. Before she went, Celia tried to encourage Jaiden to state her presence but of course didn't, letting the last person take their turn. It was a tall, older man with white hair and wearing reading glasses. He took them off, holding one of the ear pieces in between his fingers. "I'm Jerry Mcguire, and I am Celia's supervisor."

Lorelai had to desperately hold her tongue as not to make a pop culture reference to a certain movie, sensing they're not humor tolerant. The guy seriously made it way too easy and Luke could see it written all over her face, too, knowing the woman, well.

"Okay, now that we all know who each other is," Celia began, "let me go over what was discussed in our last meeting." Opening a folder sitting in front of her on the table, she listed off from the notes she had. "We talked about continuing with the weekly one on one therapy with Erica," she pointed a hand towards Erica.

"I actually have some concerns I'd like to discuss," she said, sounding professional.

"We'll get to concerns next," Celia assured her and continued reading off from her notes. "We also talked about getting some special help for her at school that could help her catch up. We discussed extracurricular activities, such as sports or some kind of music lesson.

Luke perked up at the mention of them wanting to get Jaiden into a sport. He was great at sports and could help Jaiden practice.

"And we continued talking about trying to help her become more social and help her be able to able to come to us and share her feelings," she finished. "Because of the several moves in the last four weeks, what I had discussed with previous teachers was thrown away in regard to the help she needs, academically and socially. In fact, Jaiden hasn't even been able to return to school on the count of me having to find her a new place to live, and right now, she is staying here with the kids just coming into care due to the lack of availability."

Erica raised just the hand that was holding her pen. Letting her speak, she was able to share the concern she had mentioned before. "I was quite shocked of the recent violent behavior Jaiden had begun to show in the last few weeks. In fact, I'm not sure if adoption should even be an option at this point."

Both Luke and Lorelai glanced at each other.

"How do you figure?" Celia asked her to clarify.

"It's not your average push-another-kid-when-you're-mad situation," she explained. "Jaiden was removed from a home because she had attacked a three-year-old who did not know any better. Not to mention the incident _you_ witnessed during their visit," Erica motioned over to Luke and Lorelai. "Frankly, it's a little concerning, and I feel we should be looking into possibly moving her to a place where she can get the help she needs. In all honestly, Jaiden is showing the same signs her mother showed."

Jerry spoke up to respond. "I feel you might be correct," he agreed. "We have already tried adoption for Jaiden and every single one has backed out every single time. What makes this couple any difference? We already know the outcome so why go through this again?"

Lorelai could not help stare between the two adults, appalled. "We are not like the others who tried to adopt her. Luke and I are here for good," she couldn't help blurt out. "How ever long it takes, we will do whatever we have to, to prove that to Jaiden."

"You are not the first to say that," he informed them. "A few others had said they were in it for the long haul."

"Well, we mean it," Luke stepped in.

Erica shook her head, looking over at him around Lorelai. "Does not matter. We are past that stage and need to think of the best interest of Jaiden in this point and time, and unfortunately that isn't being adopted to a family. That could put any other family of yours at risk, especially if you have other children."

"Luke did a wonderful job of restraining her when it happened during our visit," Lorelai tried to point out. She turned to Celia for help, "you even said so, yourself."

"That is true, Erica," Celia told her. "Luke was quick to pull Jaiden off of the other kid and restrain her until she was able to calm down."

"Okay, that's really great to hear, but can he moniter her, twenty-four, seven?"

"No, I work," Luke answered, honestly.

"Exactly. Jaiden needs to be closely monitored at every given moment, and the possibility of putting her on some medication couldn't hurt, either."

By this point, Lorelai was starting to feel sick to her stomach at what she was hearing. "She doesn't need medication. She needs to know someone's gonna be there for her and show her, she's loved without ditching her and breaking one promise after another," she stated, firmly. "Luke and I are willing to do whatever it takes, even if we have to make some sacrifices in order to achieve those goals."

Luke nodded in agreement. "Yeah," he said. "I've seen the look in her eye. Jaiden needs to know someone cares and show her she doesn't need to be afraid. From the moment I laid eyes on her I knew she was the one we wanted."

"I was telling him the other day after what happened, we're in too deep to back out now. If we leave or you kick us out, you're only gonna makes things worse for her, I hope you know that," Lorelai added.

"I understand your care you seem to have, but we have no other home to place her in while we go through the adoption process that would be willing to take in a child with a recent history of violence."

"Then place her with us," she shrugged.

"The adoption process never happens that fast, even during these kinds of circumstances."

"Then we'll be her foster parents until the adoption goes through," Luke blurted out, catching a surprised look from Lorelai. "Why not? We took the classes that could be for adoption _and_ fostering. If we have to be her foster parents first, then so be it."

Lorelai was quick to jump in. "We have no other kids at home, aside from his daughter, who stays with us every other holiday and half the summer, so that should give us plenty of time to help Jaiden adjust to us, first."

Celia spoke up once more, looking between Erica and Jerry. "I feel these two are very promising. They don't seem like the other couples."

"Yes, but could this really be in her best interest?" Erica questioned.

"What best interest is doping her up on drugs?" Lorelai questioned, in disgust.

"It will help control her anger," she explained.

"You know what else helps control anger? Someone there, backing her up" Lorelai was actually finding it difficult to control her own temper, but did so for Jaiden's sake, thus proving her point.

Celia stepped in to end things before they got ugly. "How about we'll leave both on the table as options?" she suggested.

"I honestly think adoption has been off the table for a while," Erica shrugged. "We need to start looking at the bigger picture."

Gabrielle, who had just been sitting back, observing, finally spoke up. "I'm afraid I have to agree with Erica. I've known Jaiden for a long time and I'd hate to see her end up like her mother, who is still in recovery for her own depression."

"What happened to this being about what Jaiden wants?" Luke demanded, really enraged by this point.

She shrugged her hands part way up. "We don't know what Jaiden wants, she won't tell us. In order for her to get the help she needs, she'll need special care that I'm sure you won't be able to give her."

"So, without giving my wife and I, a chance, you're just gonna brush us off?"

"We're not brushing you off," said Jerry. "We're just looking at the bigger picture. We know Jaiden. We know what's best for her and what's not."

Lorelai now had her arms tightly crossed in front of her, shaking her head. These people seemed to put her own mother to shame in trying to talk to them.

Celia held her hands out, trying to keep Luke and Lorelai calm. "Listen, I understand everyone's concerns. We all want what's best for Jaiden, and you know what? I honestly have total faith they could be what she needs. So, how about this. Since Luke and Lorelai have indeed taken the classes, and since we are limited on where to place her at the present time, why don't we give them a chance." Erica tried to object but she stopped her. "Her next court date is in five months. If they can succeed in the next five months up till then, we will continue considering adoption. If no progress has been made, we will look into finding her a place Jaiden can get some help." Celia looked around the table at everyone. "Sound good?"

Both Luke and Lorelai nodded in agreement. "Yeah, sounds good." They were glad Celia was still on their side. Both Gabrielle and Erica didn't look like they agreed but said they did.

Jerry shrugged. "Fine. We will give it one more shot. But this is it. If this falls through, that's it." He pointed his hand, vertical, over at Luke and Lorelai. "Do not make me regret this."

Lorelai finally smiled. "We won't."

With that settled, they continued on with the meeting. Both Luke and Lorelai assured, Jaiden would be enrolled in school and explained how Stars Hollow elementary was a great school, and how both Luke and Rory had attended the school when they were kids. Luke also spoke up about possibility helping Jaiden with sports if that was what interested her, and could even teach her the guitar if she wanted lessons.

Lorelai even assured she could help Jaiden with her homework if she was struggling with school, and Jaiden would have two foster sisters she could call for help, as well, as both girls were very smart. She made sure to add the part about her daughter having graduated from Chilton and Yale, proudly. At least they were impressed by something.

Before Celia closed, she tried calling out to see if Jaiden had anything she'd like to add. Silence followed. So, with that, Celia dismissed everyone.

Lorelai ducked her head once again. "Would it be okay if you came to live us, sweetheart?" she asked Jaiden, seeing her tense up. The little girl seemed the most tensed they had seen yet, squeezing the stuffing out of the dog she held in her arms.

Lorelai got down onto the floor, making sure to keep some space between them. "Listen, sweetheart," she spoke, keeping her voice as gentle as possible. "I know you probably heard it all before. I'm sure whatever I say will sound like a broken record so I won't try to feed ya some story that you've heard a thousand times. But we really would like it if you can come stay with us, and we'll make sure you have all the space you need. Luke and I won't make you do anything you don't want to do."

Jaiden sat there, frozen to the spot.

Luke joined Lorelai, kneeling beside her. "I know it's asking a lot. I know how it feels to keep putting your heart out there just for it to get broken again and again, and it feels like it won't recover this time." Taking a deep breath in, he added, "There's never really a guarantee but Lorelai and I will do our best to make sure your heart doesn't get broken again. Okay?"

Jaiden continued to stare at nothing, still not moving. Finally, after a moment they saw her head move and stared directly at them. "You promise?"

It caught the both of them off guard, but Luke and Lorelai smiled.

"We will try our best," replied Lorelai.

The little girl still held an unconvinced expression, but it did get her to come out from under the table, surprising most of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Celia had Jaiden grab her bag of few personal belongings she owned while Luke and Lorelai signed a few papers and explained a few things in regard to having a foster placement. She also gave them a list of contacts for everyone on Jaiden's team.

"I'm really sorry about all that. I didn't think Erica would do something like this," Celia apologized afterwards.

"It's alright," Lorelai assured her. "I'm sure she and everyone else were just looking out for the kid."

"The funny thing is, Jerry and Gabrielle would have never considered putting Jaiden in one of those group homes if Erica hadn't brought it up." Celia looked between them. "I really hope Erica doesn't scare you away because I really meant what I said about you. Nobody else has ever gotten a word out of her before."

Luke stared back in surprise. "Really?"

She shook her head. "The thought of Jaiden having to go to one of those tight-knit homes… any kid really. There's hardly any freedom and the kids are closely monitored, and usually medicated."

"We'll do all we can so that won't have to happen," Lorelai promised.

At that moment, Jaiden had returned, carrying a black trash bag over her shoulder.

"Is that everything, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked, receiving a timid nod, not making any eye contact. She still couldn't believe most kids lived out of trash bags instead of at least having a suitcase or backpack. Luke reached out a helping hand, offering to carry the bag for her. Jaiden hesitated before letting him take it. Lorelai turned back to Celia. "We actually had dinner plans with my parents, tonight, but I guess those plans have changed, huh?"

"You can keep the plans if you need to," she assured. "As long as your parents are patient with Jaiden, I'm sure things will be all right."

Lorelai laughed. "Oh, trust me. My mother will send Jaiden running for the hills. Probably should get her used to us first before broadening her to the rest of the family."

"That's probably best then if you feel that way." Celia walked them out to where Luke had parked. Now they had wished Lorelai had driven there, especially when Jaiden didn't move once Lorelai had opened the passenger side door.

Luke had set the bag into the back of his truck before sliding in under the wheel, sticking the key in the ignition and turned it to start the engine. He looked over to see what the hold up was.

"You need help getting in, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked, hunched over to be at Jaiden's level. Jaiden was staring downward. Her eyes occasionally lifted briefly to look over at Luke.

Luke noticed what she was doing with her eyes. Finally, he suggested, "Why don't you get in first, Lorelai. Let Jaiden have the window."

"Um, okay." Lorelai moved closer and slid inside, scooting over to the middle seat. Jaiden still hadn't moved, but after a minute, timidly climbed into the truck. She shut the door and fastened her seatbelt when Lorelai asked. Jaiden reached up and pulled the seatbelt down, reaching it across her, to fasten it while Luke and Lorelai did the same with their seatbelts.

On the way back to Stars Hollow, Lorelai gave her mother a call to let her know they would have to cancel dinner for another time, who answered on the third ring. "Hi, Mom," she greeted her mother, cheerfully.

"Hello, Lorelai," she returned the greeting in her usual tone. "Are you on your way? It's early, don't you think?"

"Actually, that's what I'm calling about." Lorelai glanced over at Luke before she said, "Mom, Luke and I are gonna have to take a rain check for tonight."

"What? Why?" Emily asked.

"There's been a change of plans and we ended up having Jaiden sooner than we expected," she explained.

"You already adopted her?"

"Not quite." Lorelai then went on to explain what happened during the meeting.

"Honestly, Lorelai. I don't understand why you two couldn't just adopt an infant if you were going to do this. At least an infant would be easier to manage."

"Well, Mom, when have you ever known me to do anything easy," Lorelai asked, in a joking way.

"I'm serious, Lorelai," Emily insisted. "If that child is a danger to herself and those around her, how could you possibly think you'll be able to handle her?"

"Really, it'll be fine, Mom. Jaiden's not a problem child. She just needs to feel loved and heard." She heard her mother sigh under her breath.

"Well, alright then," she said. "But I don't understand why you would need to cancel our dinner, tonight. Shouldn't your father and I have a chance to meet her?"

"Since its her first night with us, I think it's best if we let her get settled in and get to know Luke and I before we start introducing her to the rest of the family. We don't want to overcrowd Jaiden on the first day, right?"

"I guess not." When Lorelai first told her parents, her and Luke were planning on adopting, Emily questioned it, of course. Why were they adopting? What agency were they adopting from? Were they adopting from another country where they wouldn't be able to communicate with the child? When Jaiden came into the picture, Emily was surprised they were adopting an older child from foster care. "So when will we get to meet our future grandchild?"

"As soon as Jaiden is up for it," she answered.

"You're letting her decide that?" Emily questioned.

"Yes, Mom. That would be her decision if she's comfortable enough." Lorelai was ready for a fight she knew would come about from talking with her mother. Sure enough, Emily tried to argue about letting Jaiden make decisions which Lorelai calmly told her she didn't want to fight, not with Jaiden in earshot. That would probably scare her. "I know you don't approve of some of the decisions I make, but things are different with Jaiden, and I need you to just follow me on this, both me and Luke will handle it. We're her foster parents and know the kid's had a really rough childhood, so far. We have to give her the time she needs, no matter how long it takes." Though Lorelai knew Emily still didn't approve, she at least told her she agreed to drop it. They finished up the conversation before mother and daughter hung up.

Lorelai smiled over where Jaiden was leaning against the door, hugging her stuffed dog. "Doing alright, Jaiden?"

Jaiden continued to stare out the window, not answering.

Lorelai exchanged looks with Luke. Reaching forward, she decided to turn the radio on. "How about some tunes? You have a music preference you like?"

No response.

"Jaiden? Is there any music you like?" She saw her glance out of the corner of her eye but that was it. Jaiden didn't turn her head. She did slightly shrug one shoulder.

While Lorelai was still looking over at Jaiden, Luke tried to sneak over to switch her radio station they had been listening to on the way to the meeting. A gut feeling made him decide to take charge of the radio. When the music was changed, it quickly caught Lorelai's attention.

"What are you doing?"

"I was switching the station since we already listened to your music," he replied. The country singer, Alan Jackson was playing when Luke switched the station, singing his song, _Remember When_.

"Oh, no, no, no, no," Lorelai objected, shaking her head. "We are not listening to country."

"We listened to your music on the way here. Plus, it's my truck we're driving in." Luke glanced over at her, who glared back at him like a spoiled child who's been told no for the first time in her life. "Besides, what if Jaiden wants to listen?"

"I highly doubt a kid's gonna want to listen to this." She turned back to Jaiden to see her singing along to the music, under her breath. "Are you singing along, sweetheart?"

Luke glanced around Lorelai, over at Jaiden. "She is?" he asked, slightly hopeful. Not to mention slightly amused he was right.

Jaiden tensed up at being called out, ducking her head in shame.

He smiled. "Looks like majority vote wins." Luke snickered, clearly enjoying the victory he was finally able to win in regards to the radio and turned the volume dial a tad to raise the volume of the music.

The rest of the car ride home was quiet except for the radio as it played classic old country music. Both Luke and Jaiden seemed to enjoy it as Lorelai watched them both sing along occasionally under their breath.

Eventually, Luke pulled into the driveway, behind Lorelai's jeep and parked. Lorelai pointed out the door handle to Jaiden who wasn't sure at first before they slid out.

Babette was outside tending to her garden when the three were heading up to the door. "Hey, you two!" she called out as Babette waved.

"Hey, Babette," Lorelai called back, returning the greeting. "This is Jaiden."

She stared over at the kid in surprise. "Oh my God. You got her already? I thought you said it would take a while before you were able to bring her home."

"Plans changed. We're her foster parents for now until we can get everything sorted out."

Babette smiled. "Oh, how nice. Well, good luck to ya."

"Thanks, Babette." Lorelai turned to Jaiden. "That's Babette, our neighbor. She's a very nice lady. She would sometimes babysit my daughter for me when she was a kid." Jaiden kept her head down. She followed Lorelai up the porch steps where Luke was already at the door, unlocking it.

Inside, Lorelai called out, "Paul Anka, we're home! And guess who came home with us?" Paul Anka came bounding over as they walked into the living room. Jaiden kneeled down to hug the dog. "How about a house tour," she suggested once they gave Jaiden a little time to greet the dog.

Jaiden stood up when Lorelai said that and timidly followed behind, making sure there was some space. Luke followed close behind the girls, also making sure to give Jaiden her space. The only one who wasn't thinking of space was Paul Anka, who remained at the kid's feet as Lorelai showed her the kitchen, which she pointed out Rory's room but didn't go in.

Once the downstairs was shown, they went upstairs where Lorelai showed her, hers and Luke's room, the bathroom, and finally her room.

"And this will be your room," she said as Lorelai opened the door. The room had two beds on either side of the room, separated by two nightstands. One side was already decorated by April, while the other was empty and waiting to be decorated. "Hope you don't mind sharing a room. Luke's daughter, April stays with us part of the year and we're short on space."

Jaiden was staring over at the bed.

"You can decorate your side anyway you like." Lorelai tried to make things sound exciting but the kid was unmoved.

After a minute, the kid wandered over to the bed, getting down onto her belly to army crawl underneath it. Paul Anka followed but leaped up onto the bed and curled up on top. So, for now they left Jaiden alone.

"I'm gonna go check in at the diner then I'll come back and fix dinner. Any requests?"

Lorelai shrugged. "I'd ask Jaiden what she wants but I probably won't get an answer."

"I'm sure we will eventually...hopefully." He leaned over and kissed his wife before heading to their bedroom to change, then back out to his truck.

While Luke was gone, Lorelai checked on Jaiden, later, still finding her under the bed. When he returned, Luke got started on dinner, making fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. It took a couple hours before it was finally ready.

Lorelai poked her head in to let Jaiden know dinner was ready. It took a few tries before she was able to convince the kid to come downstairs with her.

When Jaiden sat down at the kitchen table, Luke set her plate down in front of her.

"You don't mind chicken, right?" he asked her, though Luke realized he probably should have asked before cooking the chicken. "Sorry, I didn't think of it till now. If you don't like it I can make you something else if you like." In response, Jaiden picked up her fork and dug it into one of the pieces of green beans, taking a small bite out of it. Luke took the gesture as she was fine with what he made and turned back to the stove to make up a plate for Lorelai.

Speaking of, Lorelai walked into the kitchen at that point. "Jaiden," she grabbed her attention. "Would you like to help me feed Paul Anka?" Jaiden stared at her plate, holding her fork by the top of its neck. "You don't have to if you don't want to. Just thought you would like to help out with taking care of him." Lorelai gave her a kind smile before giving Paul Anka his food, setting it on the floor next to his water bowl.

Luke had set Lorelai's plate on the table and made his, sitting in the spot beside her. Throughout dinner, Jaiden nibbled on each individual piece of food. Lorelai tried to show her the right way to hold her fork, but ended up letting the kid hold it the way she wanted. They tried to hold a conversation with her. It was a bit one-sided. There wasn't even a nod or head shake.

With how slow Jaiden was eating, she ended up not finishing her dinner, leaving some meat on the bone and some potatoes. Lorelai took her plate for her, suggesting Jaiden go get ready for bed. Sliding off of her chair, Jaiden headed back upstairs while Lorelai got started on the dishes and Luke gathered the rest for her, wiping down the stove, counters, and the table. The shower eventually came on, telling them Jaiden had gotten into the shower. Celia had informed them that she was independent for the most part, especially in cleaning herself. Jaiden's mother had hated dirtiness and body odor, and kept on her daughter about cleaning herself on a regular basis. When she first entered foster care, Jaiden would shower both in the morning and at night, already knowing how to turn on the water and adjust the temperature. They had managed to convince her to cut back on at least one shower a day, but occasionally, Jaiden would slip back and shower more than once a day, so Luke and Lorelai would have to keep an eye on making sure she didn't go overboard on the cleanliness.

Once the kitchen was clean, they headed upstairs to get ready for bed. Before calling it a night, Luke and Lorelai poked their head in to say good night to Jaiden, who had changed into white with red stripes pajama pants and a white t-shirt with a generic cartoon lizard wearing sunglasses. The comforter was pushed all the way to the foot of the bed where she was already laying.

"We're going to bed, sweetheart," Lorelai told her, leaning against the door frame. "Need anything? Glass of water, maybe?"

Jaiden rolled over, clutching her dog to her. Paul Anka wandered into the room, leaping onto the bed. Wrapping her arm around the dog, Jaiden buried her face into his fur as he let out a breath of air, now curled into a ball beside her.

"If you need anything during the night," Luke spoke up, "we're right down the hall. Don't hesitate to wake us up." They waited a minute before both said good night. Luke shut off the light and left the door slightly ajar before following Lorelai to bed.

"That went better than I thought," Lorelai said, pulling back the covers. She sat down against her pillows while Luke sat long enough to adjust his pillows before leaning back on his elbow.

"I'm just glad she came down and ate," he said.

"Me too."

Luke set the alarm for his usual wake up.

"I'll call Sookie in the morning and tell her I won't be coming in tomorrow."

Setting his alarm clock back on the nightstand, Luke turned back to Lorelai, still leaning on his arm. "You sure?" he asked. "I can come home during lunch, that way, you won't have to miss a full day of work."

"Yeah, okay. That sounds good."

"And I'll get Caesar to close up tomorrow night," Luke added. With things settled for Saturday, the two kissed before turning out the light and going to sleep.

A few hours later, Lorelai was awakened by a cold, wet nose and a small whine. "Luke, not right now. I'm tired," she groaned in her sleep.

Luke, who was also still asleep for the most part, barely uttered a "huh?"

Suddenly, a heart-wrenching scream echoed throughout the house, alerting the couple. They shot into a sitting position right before shooting out of bed and down the wall to Jaiden's room.

Luke threw on the light switch to see Jaiden tossing and turning aggressively, screaming at the top of her lungs, in her sleep. He rushed over, pinning a knee on the side of the bed to hover over the distressed kid who kept crying out, "No, stop! Please!" followed by several apologies. Even when Luke began to try and wake her, being gentle as he possibly can, Jaiden remained asleep, struggling underneath him. Luke had to restrain her wrists, pinning them on the bed so she couldn't swing at him.

"Jaiden, it's okay! It's only a dream! Wake up, sweetie! I promise no one's hurting you!" He had to raise his voice to be heard over her cries. Eventually, it seemed hopeless and just did what he did before, when Luke had to restrain her, until Jaiden finally woke up.

While all this was going on, Lorelai was holding Paul Anka in her arms, keeping a firm grip on him so he wouldn't bolt over there and get in the way. That, and he helped as a comfort, too. Watching the scene in front of her, tore at Lorelai's heart, seeing the little girl in so much distress. She couldn't imagine what Jaiden was dreaming about. Or was remembering.

Tears appeared as Lorelai's eyes moistened with each plea for whatever was happening, to stop. It made her heart hurt as it shattered into a billion pieces, holding a firm grip on Paul Anka, who was whining up a storm.

After ten minutes of restraint and softly _shh_ ing her, Jaiden finally bolted out of her sleep, eyes full of fright. As soon as she saw Luke above her, Jaiden struggled to break free. Luke let go when he was sure there was no danger to either one of them. As soon as she was free, Jaiden pulled herself away, backing into a corner, on her bed, curled in a tight ball as she eyed him, carefully.

Luke held his hands up, trying to catch his breath. "It's okay, sweetie. No one's gonna hurt ya, I swear." She was hugging her knees to her chest, not taking her eyes off of him. Keeping his hands raised, Luke slowly rose from the bed and backed away. "We're not gonna do anything to you. We were just worried, that's all." He backed away until he was standing beside Lorelai and said, softly, "let him go."

Lorelai looked over at him before setting Paul Anka on the floor, who rushed over to Jaiden, leaping onto the bed. He moved across the bed, reaching out to lick where her face was wet from the constant tear flow. Jaiden lowered her knees to wrap her arms around him.

Since Paul Anka seemed to have things under control, Luke nudged Lorelai from the room, shutting the door, but left it open ajar as he done before.

Lorelai wiped away her tears as she walked out into the hallway.

Luke noticed. "You okay?" he asked with concern.

She sniffed in. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Lorelai sniffed in again before admitting, "No."

He took her into his arms and comforted her. Truthfully, it was hard on Luke, too and he was the one who had to restrain the kid. Watching it was one thing, but actually having to restrain her, seeing the fear Jaiden had, up close and personal. Luke wasn't sure how he was even keeping it together.

Lorelai tried to get the words out about how she was feeling after witnessing something like, but the words couldn't come fast enough. Not before bursting into tears. She cried on Luke's shoulder, who held her in his arms. Neither of them had words to express what had just happened.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Luke left early to open the diner, letting the girls sleep a bit longer. He did poke his head in to check on Jaiden, who was sound asleep. Asleep, the kid looked calm and peaceful, the way a kid should look while sleeping. Sure, children had nightmares on occasion, but it shouldn't produce ear-shattering screams, and Luke was glad to see Jaiden lying there, curled in a semi fetal position, with both dogs wrapped in her arms.

Noticing the covers pulled back at the foot of the bed, Luke carefully made his way over, practically a walking on eggshells walk. Without waking her, he grabbed the covers and tried to cover her up, in case she might be cold. The moment the comforter was placed over the peacefully sleeping girl, Jaiden shot out of a sound sleep, her head shooting off the pillow, alerting Paul Anka in the process. She quickly shoved the comforter away as if Luke had dropped a spider on her or something, and stared up at him, eyes wide and full of fright.

Quickly holding his hands up, he tried to assure her, "I was just covering you up. Thought you might be cold." Jaiden continued to stare at him, her chest rapidly moving. So finally, Luke just backed out of the room.

Before leaving the house, Luke called Caesar to let him know he didn't have to come in early, that he would cover the kitchen and call in a couple of the other employees that were working there at the moment, asking if he could close for him, instead.

The breakfast rush came through for the first few hours, after opening, until things finally died down. That was when Liz stopped by with two-year-old Doula, who dashed right over to her uncle, who was standing behind the counter.

"Uh-co Lu'!" He heard her exclaim as the toddler ran right over and grabbed onto his leg. Doula was still learning how to pronounce "Uncle Luke."

Liz came over as well, stopping on the other side.

"This belong to you?" he asked and smirked up at his sister.

"She just loves ya, big brother," she assured him.

"I know." Luke leaned forward, letting his sister kiss his cheek. Once he finished checking off a few things in his notepad, he reached down and picked up his niece. Doula threw her small arms around her favorite uncle's neck.

"Hi, Uh-co Lu'."

"Hello, Doula," he smiled at her before Luke repeatedly kissed her cheek.

"I coun' to ten now," she informed him.

"You can, huh?"

Doula nodded. "One. Two. T'ree. Four." She paused after four, scrunching up her face like she was trying to remember what came next.

"F-i…" Liz reminded her.

"Oh, yeah. Fide. sit. Se'en. Eigh'…" Doula paused again, receiving more help from her mom. "Nine. Ten. See?"

"Yeah, I do. That's great, sweetie," Luke praised, proud of his niece.

Doula lit up like a Christmas tree at the praise, giggling. Despite how much a fan Luke wasn't of the name, Doula was growing up to be a beautiful child in his book. It was a shame they couldn't find a kid to grow up alongside her, but Luke wouldn't do anything differently if given the chance over. There were no regrets at all in picking Jaiden, and it hasn't anything to do with the fact they already found a common bond between them, so far. Everything just seemed right to him. So what if things were rocky at the moment.

"So," said Liz. "I hear you already have Jaiden."

"Well, sort of. We're, like, an emergency foster placement right now. She won't be calling us, Mom and Dad, anytime soon," he pointed out with a shrug.

"And? That's still awesome you got to bring her home, sooner than planned," she replied, happily. "Congratulations."

Luke thanked her.

"So?"

"So, what?" he questioned.

"So, when do we get to meet her?" Liz asked, eagerly.

"Not for a while, or at least for the time being."

She looked at him with a disappointed look. "How come? You got to meet Doula the day she was born. This is probably the closest TJ and I will have to something like that."

"Look, Jaiden needs time to adjust. She's in a new place, surrounded by strangers," Luke explained. "She's terrified and traumatised as it is. That's why Lorelai and I both agreed to not have anyone over until Jaiden has gotten comfortable around us. We don't even know what we're gonna do about school, yet. But as soon as we have all of that sorted out, you and TJ, Lorelai's parents, and the rest of the town will be able to meet her."

"Okay," Liz gave in. "I guess since you took the classes you know more than I do." There was some disappointment apparent in her voice, but Liz seemed to be more understanding than Emily was. She did try to input, "I bet Doula would be a big help with making her new cousin feel comfortable. Wouldn't ya, sweetheart?"

"Yeah, I bi' help." To show a visual aid, Doula held her arms out to the sides, as far as she could reach.

Luke couldn't help smile at the adorableness. "I'm sure you would be, but right now, it's best if me and Aunt Lorelai handled it." He was talking to Doula, but was really directing it towards her mother and told Liz about Jaiden losing it on a kid just one year older than Doula and he didn't want to take the risk of it happening to Doula, who he knew was a huge hugger, and might scare Jaiden. "The therapist of hers says Jaiden's starting to show signs her mother showed," he was explaining.

Liz looked heartbroken. "Awww. Poor Jay."

"Jay?"

"What? I can't give my new niece a nickname?" she teased him. "Just 'cause I can't meet her yet, doesn't mean I can't nickname her. I bet nobody's even taken the time to give her a nickname." Liz quickly added, "Well, a nice one, anyway."

Luke nodded at that, thinking about the possible horrible names her own mother probably called Jaiden at some point. "Thanks, Liz," he told her.

"No problem, big brother." Liz reached out to touch his arm. "We better go. Doula and I have some errands to run, this morning." She reached out for her daughter, who moaned, not wanting to leave her uncle. "We have to let Uncle Luke work, sweetie," she reminded her as Liz took Doula from Luke, and had her give him a kiss good-bye before doing the same. Before she left, Liz suddenly remembered, "Oh, I filled Jess in about having another cousin."

"Oh yeah?" Luke asked, his eyebrows raised. "What he say?"

She shrugged. "You know Jess. Not much. But hey, think of it this way, since you were able to help Jess, you can definitely help Jaiden."

He stared at her. "Jess and Jaiden are nowhere near the same."

"Yes, but you did get through to him and that wasn't easy."

Luke shrugged this time. "Yeah, I guess." The siblings exchanged good-byes before Liz and Doula left the diner. He watched them leave, pondering on his sister's words. For a long while there, it did seem like he wasn't getting through to his nephew and look at the guy now. Course, that took a few years. They only had five months to get through the walls Jaiden had built around herself. How were they going to help her in that short of a time frame?

Lorelai woke up around seven that morning, checking on Jaiden just as Luke had done earlier. With Jaiden asleep again, she called Paul Anka quietly, to let him outside for a little bit and fed him, his breakfast. It wasn't until eight-thirtyish, after Lorelai had ate, herself, did the kid finally come downstairs.

Lorelai was sitting on the couch, watching TV. She looked over when she heard the kid's weight on the stairs. Slung over her shoulder was the trash bag of personal belongings. "Good morning, sweetheart," she greeted Jaiden, cheerfully. "Where do you think you're going?"

Jaiden came over timidly and held her stuffed dog out to Lorelai. She wasn't holding eye contact at all, looking at the floor the whole time.

Lorelai looked from Jaiden to the toy in her hand, repeatedly. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" she asked with gentle concern. Jaiden continued to hold the toy out to her. "That's yours to keep. You don't need to give it back. We can assure you there are no indian givers in this family." Lorelai gave her a quick wink along with a smile.

Jaiden pulled her arm in, hugging the stuffed dog to her. She then turned and went over to sit in the chair, dropping the bag beside her legs, sitting there as if she was waiting for a bus or something.

It slowly sunk in; the thought process the kid might have had. "You think after what happened last night, Luke and I are gonna send you back," Lorelai guessed and leaned forward, her arms leaning on her knees. "Am I right, Jaiden?" She didn't answer but Lorelai knew full well it was.

Standing to her feet, Lorelai moved around the coffee table, sitting on one of its corners to face her. Though she sat across from the kid, she made sure to keep some space between them even when Lorelai leaned forward once again.

"Listen, sweetheart," she began, "we don't give up on someone just because we've hit some bumps. I get others probably have, but Luke and I won't. Now, as I've said, I don't expect you to trust us that easily, and I'm sure you don't. You probably think we're bluffing and will quit on ya just like all the rest of those jerks just because you seem like a danger to yourself and others. Well, we're not quitters. We're gonna see this till the end, and we really do want you a part of our family. As far as we're concerned, this already is considered your home if you want it to be."

Jaiden sat there, holding a firm grip on her stuffed dog, basically catatonic as she stared at nothing but the floor.

"Luke's not mad at you for what happened last night, and neither am I, and it sucks you have to carry those ugly memories with you. I wish I could make them go away but I can't. Stuff like that don't just up and leave. It takes time to heal, and we're willing to do whatever it takes to help you, no matter how long it takes or how bad it gets." It was so hard watching the kid hold herself. The weight on her shoulders must have been such a burden for one little girl to hold. It broke Lorelai's heart just watching her. "Sometimes, life is hard and takes all of our strength just to get through the day and then some. Doesn't mean it's worth giving up if things gets too hard. If everyone gave up when times got tough, though, I'm sure we wouldn't have the many great stuff we have today."

Jaiden continued to stare at nothing before finally, Lorelai saw her lift her gaze, timidly. But not all the way and only her eyes moved. Now that they were in better lighting, she could finally see the color of Jaiden's eyes. To her surprise, they were a combination of both blue and green. The outer layer was the same shade of blue as hers while the inner layer, around the center, was the same shade of green that Luke's were. How weird was that? What were the odds they'd pick a kid with the same shade of eye color as the two of them?

Lorelai ended up snapping out of her thoughts, not realizing she had just been sitting there, staring at the kid. Jaiden had given an uneasy look, probably a little freaked out she was being stared at and wasn't sure why.

"Sorry about that, sweetheart. I spaced out for a moment there," she quickly apologized. "So, are we good?" Lorelai changed the subject back to what they were initially discussing. "You understand you're not going anywhere, right?" She smiled sweetly at her, just receiving a slight, one-shoulder shrug. "Hey, I'll take a 'not sure.' Are you hungry? I'm not much of a cook like Luke is, but we have cereal if you're hungry." Lorelai started for the kitchen, looking back to try and persuade Jaiden to follow, waving a hand. Hesitant at first, Jaiden stood to her feet and timidly followed her where Lorelai held two boxes of cereal out in front of her: Rice Krispies and Captain Crunch. Jaiden pointed at the Captain Crunch box, taking it when she held it further out to her.

Lorelai let Jaiden pour her own bowl, as well as the milk. However, when Jaiden set the jug of milk down, she ended up setting it near the edge and did not screw the lid on, correctly. While Lorelai went over to fetch a spoon for her from the silverware drawer, Jaiden lifted her bowl to drink down some milk, having poured a little more than needed. Her elbow bumped the milk jug, knocking it off the table. The lid came off upon impact and milk splattered all over the floor.

The instant the milk hit the floor and spilled out, Jaiden bolted to her feet, backing away until she bumped into the cabinet where she went catatonic again. Her chin was pinned to her chest with her arms pinned to her sides.

The sudden noise had quickly gotten Lorelai's attention, along with Paul Anka, who wandered over to the milk puddle. The dog sniffed at it before he started lapping up the white liquid.

"It's alright, sweetheart. I know it was an accident. It happens," she assured the little girl. Lorelai tried to lighten up the mood. "Paul Anka seems to be enjoying a free drink." She chuckled a little. Once Paul Anka had his fill, Lorelai grabbed a roll of paper towels, to tear off a bunch of them and dropped the paper towels into the puddle. She picked up the jug, setting it back on the table and tore off some more.

While soaking up the milk, Lorelai looked up to check on Jaiden, still in a catatonic state. "Jaiden?" She waited a few seconds before calling again. "Jaiden? It's alright, sweetheart. You're not in any trouble, I promise." When she still hadn't moved, Lorelai called out to her once more. "Jaiden?" She also tried calling out to her in a sing-song tone, but Jaiden still did not move. Lorelai wanted to move closer, but was afraid of scaring her even more. Plus, they did promise they would give her space. She was at a loss at what to do.

Finally, taking a chance and hoped she wouldn't blow it, Lorelai stood up and moved to kneel in front of Jaiden, but still managed to keep some space between them. The moment she got closer, Jaiden flinched and ended up tripping over her feet, stumbling backwards. A loud thump was heard when Jaiden's head collided with one of the lower cupboards, but Jaiden didn't stop to hold her head, seeming like she was still afraid of what Lorelai was going to do as she scooted away.

Lorelai slowly kneeled on the floor, holding her hands out. "It's alright. I'm not gonna do anything. Can I look at your head, sweetheart?" She felt badly for causing the little girl to stumble and hit her head. "I just want to make sure you didn't cut it open or anything."

Jaiden eyed her, cautiously. She had left her dog on the table, probably too scared to go grab it.

"Can I look at your head, sweetheart? Please? I just want to look at it, make sure you're not bleeding or anything." Lorelai gave her a pleading, heartfelt look. "I'm not gonna do anything else, I promise. Just look at it. Please?"

Jaiden never took her eyes off of the woman. To Lorelai's relief, she got onto her hands and knees before timidly crawling over, just enough where Lorelai could reach her head. Taking things slow, Lorelai held her hand out to her and very carefully used two hands to search through Jaiden's messy hair. Thankfully, there was no blood or anything, except possibly a bruise, but her hair was so thick, it was hard to tell. She took her hands back, letting Jaiden know she was finished and that she was okay.

The moment Lorelai was done, Jaiden bolted away, remaining on all fours. The gesture reminded her of a frightened animal.

Eventually, Lorelai somehow convinced Jaiden to finish her breakfast, finally giving her that spoon. Afterwards, she offered to turn on cartoons for the little girl. Even though Jaiden was eight, she wanted to watch the _Nick Jr_ channel where a cartoon called, _Go Diego, Go!_ was just starting.

Setting the remote on the coffee table, Lorelai asked her, "You mind if I watch with ya?"

Jaiden just looked back at her and slightly shrugged, holding onto her stuffed dog in her arms and Paul Anka laying next to her. Taking the long way around the coffee table, Lorelai went over to sit on the other side of the couch, which Paul Anka got up long enough to move a little closer to her. She placed a hand along his side, petting it along his fur as her and Jaiden watched the cartoon about animals and learning simple Spanish words. Lorelai played along with the characters, trying to get Jaiden to join in. Jaiden remained silent the whole time, just watching.

They ended up watching cartoons all morning, all on the _Nick Jr_ channel. Even though the cartoons seemed geared towards preschoolers, Jaiden remained interested the whole time. Luke walked in around lunchtime while _Blue's Clues_ was playing.

He stopped near the couch, placing his hands on his sides, staring at the TV with a strange look on his face while one eyebrow was raised. "What are you watching?" he questioned.

" _Blue's Clues_ ," replied Lorelai. "You see, Steve needs to figure out what Blue wants for her snack so they're searching around for blue paw prints which are clues to figure out what she wants to eat."

"He trained his dog to leave clues to what she wants?"

"Guess so."

Luke held his perplexed stare, repeatedly switching back and forth between his wife and the cartoon. Finally, he just shook his head and turned back to Lorelai, to ask, "You eat already?"

"Nope, not yet. We've just been busy all morning, watching cartoons." Lorelai smiled over at Jaiden, who looked tensed now as she continued to watch TV. "Right, sweetheart?" Of course, there was no response.

"Any requests you'd like for lunch, Jaiden?" It was a longshot, but it was worth a shot. Finally, Luke just offered to make grilled cheese and tomato soup, asking Lorelai if that sounded alright to her before heading for the kitchen. When he walked into the kitchen, Luke couldn't help notice the floor was sticky under his feet. "Why is the floor, sticky?" he called from the kitchen.

"Oh, uh, some milk got spilled this morning. I just hadn't gotten around to mopping the floor," Lorelai called back while watching the cartoon.

"Don't worry about it," Luke assured her. "I'll take care of it this afternoon for ya."

"Okay. Thanks, Luke."

Luke got out everything he needed to make grilled cheese and tomato soup, heating the soup on one the back burners while he made two sandwiches each for everyone. Once lunch was ready, he called them in.

Lorelai scooted to the edge of the couch, reaching for the remote, and turned the TV off. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's go eat." It took some time, but she managed to get Jaiden to come eat lunch. With Jaiden still not talking, Luke told Lorelai about his morning instead, including about Liz and Doula stopping by.

"She wanted to stop by and meet Jaiden," he was explaining as Luke dipped part of his sandwich into the soup. "I told her we were holding off on having guests over until Jaiden was used to us."

Lorelai tore off a piece of her sandwich, dipping it in her soup.

"She wasn't fond of it, but respected our wishes. Surprisingly," he quickly added. "I thought there would be an argument, to be honest."

"Well, I'm sure Liz understands things are different with Jaiden, especially if she knows the circumstances." She picked up her coffee to wash down the grilled cheese.

Like with dinner, Jaiden also ate her lunch, slowly, unable to finish it, either.

After lunch, Lorelai had to leave to go check in at the inn, kissing Luke, good-bye. When she told Jaiden, good-bye, letting her know Luke was going to stay with her, the rest of the day, she got an unexpected reaction.

Upon hearing Luke was staying with her, Jaiden jumped up from the couch and grabbed onto Lorelai's hand in both of hers as she was heading for the front door.

Lorelai looked back in surprise. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Jaiden still did not speak. At least not verbally. Her eyes stared at Lorelai, glistening with tears. When their eyes met, Lorelai couldn't help notice they seemed to be pleading with her.

"What is it, Jaiden?"

Jaiden remained mute.

Lorelai exchanged looks with Luke, who was standing nearby. This had caught him off guard, as well. Kneeling on the floor, in front of Jaiden, Lorelai tried to assure her, "I have to go to work, sweetheart. I'll be home tonight, though."

Jaiden didn't release her grip on her hand. She held on, pleading with her with her eyes. Had Lorelai gotten through to her already? Was Jaiden already trusting Lorelai?

"We can watch more cartoons tonight when I get home," she assured Jaiden in a gentle tone. "Maybe Luke will watch with you until then."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Luke spoke up. He had planned to do some work around the house while Lorelai was at work, but if it'll help Jaiden feel at ease about living there, Luke was willing to watch cartoons. He went over to grab the remote where Lorelai had last left it and turned the TV back on. This time, _Franklin_ the turtle was on. But cartoons did not interest her.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

By this point, Jaiden was frozen once more, still staring at her. Lorelai tried to reach out to her, but instead she flinched away. Suddenly, Jaiden bolted around Lorelai and dashed outside. Luke and Lorelai quickly followed. She ran right over to their tree, climbing up into it and refused to come down.

Though, worried, Luke couldn't help wonder out loud, "How did she manage to climb that without falling?" thinking back to the many times he's fallen out of the tree while attempting to climb it himself.

"Well, Celia did say she was a tree climber. Probably really skilled at it, by now," Lorelai replied. "Plus, Jaiden is a kid, whereas you're a grown man, and three times her size." Her arms were folded, lightly as she stared up into the tree. Luke tried to take a step towards it to try and talk Jaiden down, but Lorelai stopped him, holding her arm out. "Hold up there. Since she flinches, probably not the best idea to go near her while she's in a tree."

He nodded in agreement, looking up into the tree. "So, what do we do? Wait until she comes down on her own?"

"Guess so," she replied. "I'm not sure what else we can do." Lorelai looked over at him. "Maybe I shouldn't go to the inn, today. I mean, if I did something today that made her decide to reach out to me like that, maybe I should be here. Michel and Sookie can handle things, at least for today."

Luke pondered on that thought for a moment. Finally, he insisted she still go, that he'll keep an eye on her, and if things got really bad, Luke would call her. It was mostly in case another restraint was needed. It was hard on him alone, and Luke didn't want to put Lorelai through it when it was difficult for her to watch.

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I got this. Don't worry." Lorelai tried to push it, afraid for Jaiden, but Luke assured her once more it'll be just fine. So, with some hesitance and one last look, Lorelai headed towards the jeep. Though, Luke wasn't exactly bursting with confidence, here.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Instead of doing the work he had initially planned on getting done that afternoon, Luke ended up standing in front of the window, keeping an eye on Jaiden, who remained up in the tree the whole time, just sitting in a small nook just her size. He hoped she didn't fall asleep up there, in fear Jaiden might fall. As he kept a watchful eye, Luke worried him having to restrain her, did make Jaiden fear him. He was only trying to help and Celia had agreed he had done the right thing. Guess, Jaiden wasn't able to see things that way. Luke was glad Lorelai was able to progress with her, even if it was brief. But was letting her leave such a good idea? Maybe Luke should have let her stay.

The phone rang.

"Aw jeez." Luke didn't want to take his eyes off of Jaiden for a second. Anything could happen in that short of a time frame. The phone continued to ring. Backing away from the window, keeping his eyes on it, he made his way over to grab the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Dad," April greeted, cheerfully.

Luke's spirits were lifted when he heard his daughter's voice. Though, he headed back to the window to keep his eyes on hopefully his soon-to-be daughter. "Hey, April. How's it going?"

"Good, good." April then started to tell him all about school and everything else in her high school life as Luke listened intently.

"That's great," he said afterwards when she was finished.

"So," she said, now changing the subject, "how's things going with my new sister?"

"Uh, good. She's already home with us, actually."

April let out a delighted squeal. "Really? Is she talking yet? Can I talk to her?"

"Not yet. Right now, she's up in our tree and won't come down."

"Why is she in a tree?" she questioned.

He stretched his back out, placing a hand on his side. "That's one of her hiding spots when she's scared. Her caseworker says Jaiden's a huge tree climber, which makes me a little nervous. Lord knows I've fallen out of that tree many times."

April scoffed. "'A little nervous?' Dad, everything makes you nervous."

Luke tried to deny it, laughing at his daughter's remark. "Does not," he snorted, hearing her disgust. April hated when her dad snorted when he laughed.

"You're standing at the window, watching her, aren't you?"

He stuttered. "Uh...n-no. I'm in the kitchen. For all we know, she could have climbed down, by now."

"Uh huh," she replied, not buying it at all, knowing her dad. "Sure, Dad."

"Okay, fine," Luke gave in, caught. "You're right." He let out a sigh. "I just want to make sure Jaiden's okay." For a moment there, it looked like Jaiden was falling asleep. Her head was against the tree log and her head looked like it was drooping. "Aw jeez, is she falling…?" Her hand moved, starting to pick at the bark, now. Luke breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dad, if it worries you that much that she's up there and she likes to climb trees, why don't you build her a treehouse?" April suggested. "She'll have more room to sit, too."

His eyebrows rose at that suggestion. "Huh," he said. "That's not a bad idea, April."

"Of course, there are still repercussions involved in having a treehouse," she added. "Something could break and she'll definitely fall then." April then went on to share the statistics on treehouse accidents that occur among children.

"Are you trying to kill me?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine, Dad," April assured him. "The bookcase you built me hasn't fallen yet, and I've got some really heavy books and stuff on it."

Luke had to smile. However, the smile quickly vanished when he noticed his sister and her husband pull up in front of the house. "Uh, April, I have to let you go."

"Anything wrong? Is it Jaiden?" she asked, sounding worried.

"No, your doofus aunt and uncle just pulled up after I specifically told them not to."

"Oh, okay. Bye, Dad."

"Bye, kiddo. Love ya."

"Love you, too." They hung up which Luke tossed the phone over onto the couch as he hurried outside, just as Liz was getting Doula out of her car seat. TJ was already heading over to him, meeting Luke halfway, basically walking into the furnace, a.k.a, Luke's wrath.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Luke demanded of his sister and brother-in-law, holding his hands out to the sides.

"I hear our new niece is here," TJ was the one to answer. "Thought we'd stop by for a visit so we can meet her."

Luke looked over at his sister, now annoyed. "I told you we weren't taking visitors right now," he reminded her.

"I know, and I told TJ that, but he really wanted to meet her."

"Yeah," he said. "Plus, I bet I can help out, make the kid feel welcome. Be the fun uncle who spoils the kid. I bet that's what JJ needs."

Luke grabbed at the inner corners of his eyes, rubbing them. "TJ," he lifted his head, trying hard not to strangle him. "It's not a simple shy phase. This kid has seen and experienced horrors no kid should ever have to endure. You go right up to her, you're only gonna make things worse, regardless of your intentions."

"Come on, Luke. Can't we just try it? What's the worse that can happen?" Liz asked, holding Doula on her hip.

"For one, she'll possibly flinch and fall right out of the tree," Luke pointed over at Jaiden. All three of them looked over where he was pointing.

"She's up in the tree?" TJ questioned.

"How did she get up there?" Liz asked.

"She climbed up there when Lorelai had to leave for the inn and found out I was staying here with her, alone."

"Is she afraid of you?"

Luke shrugged, "Guess so, and you being here probably isn't helping. So, will you please leave?" He waved his arms, trying to shoo them back to their car.

"Why don't you just let me help? I bet I can get her down," TJ suggested, and started over there. That is until Luke held his arm out and blocked the guy from proceeding.

"You're not going over there, TJ," he stated, firmly, still holding his arm out.

"Come on, Luke. I'm great with kids." TJ motioned his hand towards his own daughter, "right, princess?"

"Yeah. Daddy's ta bes'," she agreed, though it was a bit biased, considering she was two and says that about everyone she likes.

TJ turned back to him. "See?" He tried to take another step, but Luke refused to budge.

"TJ, I swear, if you go over there," Luke warned, now giving him a hard stare right in the eye. Thankfully, it made TJ back away.

"Fine," he held his hands up in defense.

At that moment, a black Jaguar automobile pulled up, producing an annoyed look from Luke.

"You gotta be kidding me," Luke muttered out loud.

Richard and Emily stepped out of the car from either side, walking over to them.

"I thought Lorelai said you weren't having anyone over yet?" Emily was the one to speak when she noticed TJ, Liz, and Doula.

"We weren't," he replied, annoyance still in his tone. "I guess some just can't listen." In truth, Luke wasn't just directing that towards his sister and her family. Emily and Richard were there, too even though they were told the same thing, and yet there they were, which he pointed out the nicest way he could.

"She's our granddaughter, now. We should be able to meet her," she stated.

"No, she's not. At least, not yet." Luke told her. "We're just her foster parents. Her caseworker is still her legal guardian and she's still a ward of the state. We have five months to prove to them we're the best fit, then Jaiden will be ours. But right now, we don't want to bring a bunch of strangers around her before she's even used to us."

Richard spoke up. "How is Jaiden supposed to get used to others if you don't surround her with people?" he questioned.

"We are taking things slow as not to overwhelm her."

Emily must have noticed Jaiden over in the tree as she asked, "Is that her?"

Luke glanced back over his shoulder and confirmed her question.

"Why on earth would you let her climb up there?" Emily looked appalled. "She could get hurt. Not to mention, the bugs and diseases Jaiden could contract from being up there."

Luke let out an annoyed sigh, wiping a hand down his face.

"Hey, I climbed trees as a youngster and I turned out alright," TJ pointed out. "I mean, I've fallen a few times, but what's a childhood without a few broken bones and minor injuries? Am I right?" He looked around at everyone while holding his hands out.

"Yeah, Luke here has had a few childhood injuries, too. Remember when you broke your nose, skating into a tree?"

Luke glared over at his sister. He hated when she brought up the broken nose accident. It wasn't one of his proudest moments, and remembered the teasing Liz and their dad gave the whole time it took to heal, mockingly pointing out whenever it happened in one of the cartoons they used to watch when they were kids. Till this day, Luke couldn't watch a Warner Bros cartoon without thinking about it.

"You broke your nose?" asked Emily, curious.

He let out another sigh. "Yes."

"Is that why it looks crooked?"

"What?" Luke automatically reached up to touch his nose.

"Emily," Richard said.

"What? I was just asking," she replied as if the comment wasn't uncalled for.

Several minutes passed and Luke still wasn't able to convince anyone to leave. They all tried giving their opinions on the matter, and even tried going over to try convincing Jaiden to come down and say hello. Luke could see how nervous it made her, having a bunch of people trying to talk to her. In the end, he decided to call Lorelai, asking if she could come home and help as he had officially lost control.

When Luke called her at work and explained what was going on, Lorelai immediately left, leaving Michel in charge. She should have known her parents wouldn't stay away. Lorelai didn't know Luke's sister and her husband that well, aside from what Luke has shared with her. Normally, Luke could handle them, but since it was Liz and TJ combined with her parents, who hardly ever let Luke get a word in, at least Emily, anyway, Lorelai knew she had to come to his rescue. Plus, she was sure Jaiden wasn't doing too well, either, without Luke having to say anything.

Sure enough, when Lorelai pulled up, everyone was standing around the tree, with Luke facing them, trying to keep the peace and failing miserably. She hurried over, stopping beside him.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "I thought we told you guys already, we weren't inviting people over while Jaiden was getting settled in. Luke and I'd hoped, under the circumstances, you all would respect that, but apparently not!"

Before Liz and TJ could say anything, Emily jumped in, first. "We let you cancel dinner, last night, Lorelai. How much time does the child need in getting settled in?"

"As long as it takes, Mom," she answered, trying to remain calm. "I told you, Jaiden's had a traumatic life, so far, not to mention, is still nervous around me and Luke. That's why we don't want anyone else around."

"We were just trying to help," TJ pointed out which Liz agreed.

"I understand, TJ, and we appreciate it."

"And what if Jay's able to connect with one of us first and we can help her feel comfortable being with you?" Liz asked.

Lorelai thought on that suggestion. She looked over at Luke before turning back to Liz. "We'll consider it. But, right now, can you please let us handle things for the next couple of days?"

It was Richard who said, "I don't see how that's unreasonable." She thanked her father with some relief. TJ and Liz also agreed. However, Emily wasn't backing down without some kind of compromise.

"Fine," she said. "But since you cancelled at the last minute, yesterday, I expect the three of you to come to dinner, next Friday."

"Great, Mom, if Jaiden feels up to it," Lorelai said, shrugging her hands up, briefly.

"Unless she is sick, there will be no other excuses. Dinner is at seven, Lorelai." Neither one was backing down.

All Lorelai said was, "We'll see, Mom," refusing to agree to the terms. Her mother tried to counter it, but she stuck by her words. Finally, Emily just made her way to the car.

Richard started to follow until he stopped in front of his daughter to say one last thing. "She's beautiful, Lorelai," he told her, softly. "Aside from the hair, she really does seem like she could be yours, biologically," meaning both her and Luke.

She smiled in more relief. "Thanks, Dad."

He smiled in return before heading for the car, as well.

"Call us if you ever need anything, like a babysitter," Liz offered before they left.

"Really sorry I had to pull you back here," Luke apologized, feeling guilty he couldn't handle it all himself.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's not your fault. This is a whole new thing to everyone. They don't realize even the nicest of gestures can seem hurtful or overwhelming to Jaiden. Not to mention, you know how my mother can be." Lorelai looked up into the tree to see Jaiden still sitting up there. "You okay up there, sweetheart?"she called up to her. Jaiden just stared back. Lorelai turned back to Luke. "She been up there since I left?"

"Yep. Hasn't moved at all. In fact, I hadn't gotten any work done. I've been keeping an eye of her, the whole time, making sure she doesn't fall," he explained. "I did get an idea thanks to April."

"Yeah? For what?"

"Well, I had mentioned that it made me nervous, Jaiden being up there, so April suggested I build her a treehouse."

"Hey, that's a good idea," she agreed. "It could definitely give her, her own space to go to when she needs to be by herself, and might even help show her this can be a permanent home for her." Lorelai looked up at Jaiden to ask for her input. "How about it, Jaiden? Would you like it if Luke built ya a treehouse?"

Jaiden was still leaning against the tree. If they didn't know better, Luke and Lorelai could have sworn Jaiden gave them a shrug. If so, it was something.

"I'll probably go in tomorrow for the morning rush, and run to Home Depot to get the wood and stuff, and take the rest of the day off to work on it," Luke told her.

"What if I take Jaiden with me, back to the inn and you can go today, to give you more time to work on it, tomorrow, and you can even get stuff done without worrying about Jaiden falling out of the tree," she suggested.

"You think having Jaiden hang around the inn is a good idea?" he asked, skeptical about having her around the guests. Luke didn't see Jaiden coming to the diner any time soon.

Lorelai shrugged. "I can set Jaiden up with something to do in my office, so she'll be away from everyone, including Michel."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, that'll probably be best."

Looking up at Jaiden, once again, she called, "sweetheart, why don't you come with me and you can come see where I work." It took a few tries, but Lorelai managed to convince the kid to come down from the tree. They both made sure to watch her, carefully, in case Jaiden fell. She did end up missing her footing at one point, causing both of their hearts to skip a beat, especially Luke's, who quickly reached out and caught her in his raised hands, but not before her hands skidded along the bark. When Luke set her down on her feet, gently, Jaiden flinched away from him, eyeing him until her hands caught her attention, looking them over. They were covered in loose tree bark and dirt.

"Do like this, sweetheart." Lorelai grabbed her attention and showed Jaiden how to brush off her hands. They smiled when she mimicked the gesture. Her face scrunched up in slight pain and looked closer at the left part of her palm. Lorelai kneeled to her level. "Can I look, sweetheart?" holding a hand out to her.

Jaiden hesitated at first, but after a few assurances, handed over her hand.

Lorelai held the small, eight-year-old's hand in hers, using the other to poke at the area. Dug into her fresh was a small wood splinter probably from when she almost fell before Luke was able to catch her. "Uh oh. Looks like you have a splinter, there." She lifted her gaze at the little girl. "Can I help get it out for you?"

After another hesitance, Jaiden nodded her head, giving her consent. So, Lorelai took her inside to the kitchen. Luke tried to offer to lift her onto the counter, but Jaiden refused, flinching away from him. When Lorelai returned with her sewing basket, she had her sit at the table, instead, kneeling in front of Jaiden. She then looked inside, pulling out one of her sewing needles.

"Now, this'll hurt, sweetheart, but I have to do it in order to get the splinter out. Okay?"

Jaiden chewed on her lip, looking unsure, possibly having second thoughts.

"If you let me do it, I'll give ya some ice cream if you want," Lorelai bribed the kid, just a little. "I promise," she added at the skeptic look Jaiden gave and held up her pinky to her. With some probing, Jaiden shyly held up her pinky on her other hand. Lorelai gently wrapped hers around Jaiden's.

With that settled, Lorelai asked for the "injured" hand, taking a hold of it. She cradled it in her hand, pressing her thumb near where the splinter was located, firmly. Taking the sewing needle, Lorelai carefully poked at it, causing Jaiden to flinch and yank her hand, back, shaking her head, repeatedly. "I know it hurts, Jaiden, but this is the only way I can pull the splinter out."

Jaiden refused to give her back her hand, now turned in her seat, sitting sideways. She hugged her hand against her, keeping it from the woman.

"If you don't let me take it out, it can get infected and make you really sick, then you'll have to go to the hospital. You don't want that, do ya?"

Jaiden searched around at nothing as if she was pondering on that.

"I'm not trying to hurt you on purpose, sweetheart," Lorelai assured her. "I've done it plenty of times. I'm pretty much a pro at getting splinters out of hands, just ask my daughter." She smiled for Jaiden when she glanced upward with just her eyes.

Luke moved closer from where he had been leaning against the counter. "You can hold onto me," he said, offering his own hand, but Jaiden quickly shook her head. Even though he didn't take it personal, Luke couldn't help feel rejected. Lorelai did suggest he go fetch her stuffed dog. Asking where it was, he went into the living room where Jaiden had left it on the couch, bringing it back for her. Jaiden took it from him, holding it to her chest.

"Can I remove the splinter, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked once more. "I promise to be quick as I possibly can. Please?" There was more hesitance, but Jaiden shakily reached out her "injured" hand again, allowing Lorelai to take it, starting over.

Cradling her hand in hers, Lorelai pressed near it like before and poked at the area with the needle, giving Jaiden a head's up first. Jaiden's eyes shut tight as she bit down on her lip.

Luke wished he could step in and do something. Wrap his arms around the kid. Unfortunately, not without Jaiden's say.

Lorelai switched back and forth, between poking it and using her thumb to firmly but gently push the splinter out. With each prick, Jaiden would flinch. By the third time, Lorelai had to keep a firm grip on her hand, but talked softly to her to assure the little girl she was in safe hands. After several minutes of unsuccess, she asked Luke if he could bring her a wet, soapy rag.

Glad to have something to do than just standing there and doing nothing, Luke went over to the sink, running a kitchen rag under warm water, pouring some dish soap to lather in with the water. Once he wrung the rag out, Luke brought it over to her. Lorelai took it from him, thanking him and wiped the rag across Jaiden's hand, over the splinter, a few times before trying once more. By this point, they could hear whimpers coming from Jaiden.

"I know it hurts, sweetheart," Lorelai tried to sympathize with her as she continued, focusing. "I'm trying to get it over with as fast as I can. It's in there, pretty deep." She was now cutting around the splitter which caused even more pain and now produced a lot of tears.

Luke wanted to comfort the kid, so badly. He was never any good at watching others, especially girls, cry. Now, since he met Lorelai and Rory, and even his own daughter, his protective side comes out and usually wants to beat up whoever made his girls cry. Well, this time, it wasn't a "bully" that was making one of his girls cry. Unless one counts a sewing needle as a bully, but he couldn't exactly beat that up. By now, his heart was basically putty watching the poor kid in pain, squeezing her stuffed dog in one arm.

Finally, Lorelai was able to grab a hold of the stubborn splinter and pull it out, asking Luke to grab a couple paper towels. When he gave her both pieces, she asked him to fetch the first aid kit. While Luke went to grab it from the upstairs bathroom, Lorelai used one of the paper towels to press against the cut to stop the bleeding. The other she laid the splinter on.

Jaiden was holding her eyes, shut tight, facing away from her.

"You doing alright, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked, rubbing her thumb against Jaiden's hand in a comforting way.

Jaiden didn't respond, nor did she open her eyes. Tears were still pouring down both sides of her face.

Luke returned shortly, passing Lorelai, the first aid kit.

She set it on the table, opening the small, white box, grabbing the peroxide bottle, all with one hand. Lorelai enlisted Luke's help one more time to wet a piece of gauze with peroxide for her. All set, she warned Jaiden, "this will sting a bit, sweetheart. It just means it's cleaning your cut. Okay?" Taking a deep breath in and letting it out, Lorelai embraced herself, guessing how the little girl would react. Rory wasn't one to sit still for something like this, either when she was Jaiden's age. "Here it is." She watched Jaiden tense up when Lorelai gave the head's up. The minute the cold, clear liquid touched the open wound, Jaiden gave a mighty scream and was now full-blown crying. Her cries echoed throughout the kitchen. She started struggling to pull her hand free. So much so, Lorelai had no choice but to let go. At that point, Lorelai wasn't even going to try and finish that part, just glad they were able to pull the splinter out and tried to apologize. Jaiden had then decided they were done and refused to give her, her hand, back.

Instead, Lorelai tossed the wet gauze onto the table and grabbed both boxes of band aids. "Which kind of band aid would you like, sweetheart?" she asked, holding the boxes out to her. "Barbie or plain?" The plain band aids were actually there for Luke while the Barbie ones were for, of course, the girls. However, it looked like he would be sharing them from now on. It took a while to re-grab her attention, but when Jaiden finally looked at her, sniffing back more tears, she pointed to the plain ones. "Not a Barbie fan, huh?" Lorelai harmlessly teased her, setting the box of Barbie ones on the table and opened the plain band aids, asking to see her hand one more time, promising no more peroxide.

Jaiden hesitated before shakily holding out her hand. Peeling open the band aid, Lorelai gently blew on the cut, lightly, making sure it was dry before sticking the band aid over it.

"There. All done," she assured the little girl.

Jaiden took her hand back for the last time, looking at the band aid that covered around the side of her hand, towards the top.

"Would you like a kiss for it, sweetheart?"

She shook her head, holding her hand out of the way.

Lorelai smiled, sweetly. "You sure?"

Jaiden nodded that time.

Instead, Lorelai got another paper towel, wetting it a little and passed it to her, asking if she could wipe her face. Jaiden did just that before handing the paper towel back to her. Lorelai told her to go put her jacket on and grab the toys she wanted to bring, not realizing the stuffed dog was her only toy Jaiden owned. She went to put on her jacket like asked, but sat there staring at nothing, holding her stuffed dog.

"I'm sorry, Jaiden," Lorelai apologized once she realized Jaiden didn't have anything else. She tried to make her feel better though. "We have a lost and found where we keep belongings the guests leave and can't ship to anyone. I think I've seen toys in there." Lorelai had Jaiden follow her out to the jeep, folding the seat down so she could climb into the back seat.

Luke had walked the girls out, kissing Lorelai before she slid into the driver's seat and shut her door for her. Once both had their seat belts on, Lorelai started the engine and headed back to the Dragonfly.

On the way, Lorelai tried playing her music for Jaiden, who seemed disinterested and stared out the window instead. When the radio played a really loud song, Jaiden covered her ears with her palms. Once Lorelai caught that in the mirror, she turned it down, deciding to switch through the stations until coming across Luke's favorite station. Randy Travis' _Forever and Ever Amen_ song was currently playing. Before she knew it, Jaiden's mouth was moving to the words as she sang silently to herself.

Lorelai pulled up to the Dragonfly Inn, parking off to the side. When she slid out, Lorelai folded the seat to let Jaiden climb out before shutting the car door. "This is where I work," she explained to Jaiden. "A friend and I opened our own inn, a few years back."

Jaiden looked up at the two story building, unphased.

"Come on. I'll show ya inside." Lorelai led Jaiden inside where Michel was standing behind the desk, checking a guest in. After the guest had his key and headed for the stairs with one of the helpers who were carrying the man's bags, she introduced her to Michel. "Jaiden, this is Michel. He's a friend of mine." She turned to the stubborn, grouchy guy. "Michel, this is Jaiden."

"Hello," he faked a smile for the little girl, who was now gripping her stuffed dog tightly in her arms. She looked tensed again.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Michel's bark is worse than his bite," Lorelai lightheartedly teased.

Once it was apparent the kid was afraid, stubborn, grouchy Michel actually felt badly for her. He tried asking her how old she was, but Jaiden still backed away.

Instead, Lorelai answered. "She's eight," and said she was going to set Jaiden up in her office. She let Jaiden sit in her chair, grabbing a few sheets of blank paper from the printer. "I don't have any crayons." Lorelai was searching around in one of the drawers in her desk. Finding a pen and a couple highlighters, one pink, one yellow, she set them on the paper. "Those would have to do for now if you wanna draw. I'll go look in the lost and found closet, see if there are any toys in there for you."

There was indeed a box of toys in the lost and found closet. Lorelai brought it back, setting the box on the floor next to the chair where Jaiden was sitting on the edge, the paper and pens left, untouched. Inside the box was a bunch of mixed match toys of cars, dolls, toy dinosaurs, kids meal toys, and other action figures left behind by kids. There was even a Nerf gun, though it was missing its foam-suctioned ammo. What piqued Jaiden's interest was a small action figure of the cartoon boy, Diego, they were watching that morning.

Setting it on the desk, Jaiden started playing with the Diego toy.

"You like that one?" Lorelai asked as she watched her. While Jaiden played, Lorelai wanted to talk to her about what happened earlier while Jaiden was up in the tree. "Listen, sweetheart, about what happened before when my parents, and Luke's sister and her husband came over. I know it probably seemed overwhelming, and I am really sorry that happened. Our family means well, they just don't think before they do things. We're all here for you, though, Jaiden. Me, Luke, even my parents, and Luke's sister and her husband, and even their daughter, and Rory and April. We want to make you feel welcomed. But I know that's not easy for you, and I don't want to make you do anything that you don't want to do." Lorelai leaned her arm on the desk while she was kneeled there. Jaiden was still paying attention to Diego. It was unclear if she was listening or not. "And about that dinner next Friday my mother wants us to go to, we might not even go. Not if you're not up to it yet. It's probably best if you feel comfortable living in your own home before branching out to someone else's home, huh?"

By now, Jaiden was just staring at Diego, moving his arms, legs, and head.

Lorelai tried reaching out to touch her arm, but quickly pulled it back when Jaiden flinched away from her touch. "I'll see about having my friend, Sookie make you a snack since I still owe you that ice cream. Okay?" Not receiving any kind of response, Lorelai stood to her feet, heading for the door where she opened it a little. She stopped to look back where Jaiden was still staring at the toy. Finally, she left the room, assuring Jaiden, she'll be right back.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Since Jaiden didn't have any food allergies, Sookie was able to go all out and prepare a delicious ice cream sundae with vanilla ice cream, drizzled in chocolate syrup, chopped nuts, multicolored sprinkles, and a banana cut up in slices with a cherry on top. Though, in retrospect, giving ice cream for a snack probably wasn't such a good idea, but the problem didn't surface until later that night.

Jaiden only ate some of the ice cream, but did eat all of the banana slices. The nuts was picked out, too, left in a pile in the corner of the bowl. Lorelai had to reassure Sookie, not to take it personal. There really hadn't been a meal she finished all of, yet. Luke had already pointed out it was probably because Jaiden took her time. Depending on the speed of how fast a person eats, determines how full someone gets. If a person takes their time like Jaiden does, the more full they will become. Sookie relaxed after Lorelai explained that to her. Though, they hoped it was the reason and not something worse.

On the drive home, Lorelai noticed Jaiden had started coughing. Aside from a snack, Sookie fed both her and Lorelai, dinner since Lorelai was staying later. Jaiden had eaten even less than what she had eaten, so far. As soon as they got home, Jaiden went upstairs and ended up falling asleep soon afterwards. It wasn't until Luke had to come in, in the middle of the night and repeat the same events from the night before, did they realize there was something wrong.

The first clue was the moment Luke sat down next to her and gently pinned her arms. They were warmer to the touch than usual. Jaiden also wasn't struggling as much. She wasn't crying this time either, but whimpering, interrupted by hoarse coughing. In fact, Luke really did not need to pin her arms. Having shortly realized this, he let go of his grip. Instead, he gently rubbed a hand along her bare arm.

While Luke quietly and gently shushed Jaiden, he reached the other hand over to feel her forehead, suddenly having flashbacks back to when April got sick and began to panic. He had to remain calm though so he could wake her and find out if it was Jaiden's appendix or just plain sick.

Like last time, Lorelai remained in the doorway, holding Paul Anka at bay, only this time, she was kneeled beside him, finding it hard to watch this time. She noticed Luke touch Jaiden's forehead. Like Luke, Lorelai couldn't help notice how much less of a fight Jaiden seemed to be putting up.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Jaiden snapped awake. She managed to flinch upon realizing Luke was there, but didn't seem to have the strength to move away. Not that she didn't try. Jaiden did eye him, carefully, though.

Having taken back his hands once she was awake, he assured her, "It's okay, sweetie," and heard himself add, "you're awfully warm. Does your stomach hurt at all?"

Jaiden remained silent and just continued to stare at the guy.

Lorelai let go of Paul Anka, who dashed over onto the bed, laying his head on top of Jaiden's torso. She joined her husband, leaning a hand on the bed and felt her forehead as well. Jaiden flinched, shutting her eyes tight as Lorelai reached for her forehead.

"You're fine, sweetheart," Lorelai assured her, also feeling the warm temperature that was emitting off of the kid, who coughed once more. It was then she remembered, Jaiden had gone outside, earlier, without a jacket and sat out there for quite a while. Winter had passed, but it was still jacket weather in Stars Hollow. Eating cold, frozen ice cream probably didn't help either.

"I think it may be the flu." Lorelai moved her hand, touching the side of Jaiden's forehead with the back of her fingers.

Luke couldn't help let go of a breath of air he hadn't realized he been holding. "Should we take her to the ER?"

"Well, let's take her temperature first." Lorelai left the room, heading to hers and Luke's bathroom where they had stocked up on everything they needed for an occasion like this right before they had their home inspection.

While she was gone, Jaiden continued to keep an eye on Luke, who wasn't sure what to do at this point. Or say. Why were words so difficult for him?

"It's gonna be alright, sweetie." Those were the only words that came to mind. Being careful, he reached across the bed to grab her stuffed dog, catching Jaiden flinch. He assured her, he was only grabbing her toy for her and handed it to Jaiden. As he looked into her fear-filled eyes, a memory he had shoved far deep into his mind came rushing to the surface.

When Luke was really young, the youngest age he could remember, though it started even younger than that when he was only a baby, his mother would sing the song from Disney's Dumbo whenever she tucked him in. Now, as he sat there, beside Jaiden, who was feeble and scared, the loving melody just came out. In fact, it caught both him and her, off guard. But he sang it till the end.

"That was beautiful." Both Luke and Jaiden nearly jumped out of their skin when Lorelai had spoken. She walked into the room, carrying the ear thermometer and children's cold and flu medicine.

"Lorelai." Luke couldn't help feel his face turn beet red. "Uh… How long have you been standing there?"

She smiled at him, turning the thermometer on. "Not long. Enough to hear ya sing." The medicine was sitting on Jaiden's nightstand beside the bed. Luke was looking elsewhere in embarrassment as Lorelai sat beside Jaiden's head. "I'm just gonna take your temperature, sweetheart." Of course, that didn't keep Jaiden from still flinching as she pushed some blond hair away from the kid's ear. Being gentle as she could, Lorelai placed the coned ear piece inside, holding it there. Jaiden tried to jerk her head from side to side to shake away from her ear's unwanted visitor until Lorelai held a gentle hand to it to hold her head still.

"It's alright, sweetheart," she assured her, softly as they waited for the ear thermometer to beep, massaging the side of Jaiden's forehead with her thumb.

The whole time they waited, Jaiden remained tensed which Lorelai tried to get her to relax.

"My, uh, mom used to sing for us when we were little."

Lorelai glanced over at Luke when he had spoken. "I think that's sweet," she replied softly and gave him an encouraging smile where he was able to continue.

"She would sing whenever she put us to bed, or whenever we were upset or," he looked over at Jaiden, who was really tensed having the thermometer in her ear, for a moment before turning back to Lorelai, "or scared." Though, Luke dropped his gaze, finding it hard to hold.

Lorelai looked from Luke to Jaiden. She glanced at him, keeping most of her focus on Jaiden. "Well, I enjoyed it. How about you, Jaiden? Did you like the song?" She smiled down at Jaiden.

Jaiden moved her eyes away, looking elsewhere.

The ear thermometer beeped, alerting their attention.

Lorelai removed it to read what the screen said. "101.3. Yep, it's the flu alright." She reached over to grab the box, placing the ear thermometer back inside. Next, Lorelai grabbed the cold and flu medicine, unscrewing the lid. Checking the label for the right dosage, she poured the red liquid into the bottle's small cup. "Can you sit up, sweetheart? Or do you need help?"

At that, Jaiden hid her face in her pillow.

"This won't hurt like the peroxide did, I promise," she assured her. "It's medicine you drink." She still wasn't convinced in the slightest. "It'll help make you feel better." Lorelai tried to add that it was cherry flavor, too. Like with the splinter, it took some coaxing before she was able to prop Jaiden's head up on her leg and hold the small cup to her mouth, having Jaiden drink it all down. Jaiden made a disgusted face at the taste.

Luke offered to go get her a drink from the kitchen, bringing it back. "All we have is orange juice. How's your throat? Is it sore?" he asked, going on to explain to her how orange juice could irritate a sore throat. Jaiden gave a slight head shake, taking the juice from Lorelai. She drank her fill before handing it back.

The next day, once he returned from the diner, Luke offered to carry her downstairs to the couch so she could watch TV, but Jaiden refused the offer. In fact, she didn't even want to do anything but sleep. All of Sunday, she was completely bedridden to the point, Lorelai found her stumbling to the bathroom, holding onto the wall. Lorelai somehow convinced Jaiden in helping her the rest of the way and every hour since, would come up and ask if Jaiden had to go. The kid tried to refuse, but really didn't have the strength to fight back. Hopefully, it was a blessing in disguise, her getting sick, to help prove to Jaiden they meant no harm and really cared.

Lorelai took the day off to take care of Jaiden while Luke took the afternoon off, still wanting to work on the treehouse.

He had to trim and saw off some branches, here and there before Luke could start laying down the floor, positioning it between the tree's trunk limbs, making sure to secure the wood firmly, to sturdy it in place.

While he worked outside, Lorelai came out, supplying the cold drinks. Luke was halfway done with the floor when she came out around two in the afternoon. "How's it coming along?" she asked, passing a glass of lemonade up to him.

Luke was sitting on his heels on what he had already put together. Taking a drink first, he replied, "Almost got the floor done."

"That's good."

Luke shrugged. "Getting the floor done is mainly the only goal for today." He added, "After the whole splinter accident, I'm thinking I might put down, like, a rug or a carpet, even. I have a wood finish for the walls, too."

"That might be best."

Taking one last drink, Luke passed it back down to her before lowering his work goggles he had pushed up onto his forehead. "How's Jaiden doing?"

"Sleeping again."

He gave a shrug. "At least she's getting plenty of rest and liquids."

"Yeah, but I tried explaining to her, the best part of being sick is all the TV you can watch," she said.

"Some just aren't an avid TV watcher," he pointed out.

"Okay, I'm starting to think we're adopting a tiny you." Lorelai held a hand on her side while holding the glass in the other. One eye was closed from the brightness of the sun.

"What's wrong with that? You have Rory, and as much as I love April, you're able to connect with her more than I can. If Jaiden's turning out to be more like me then I think that's great. It'll be nice to able to connect with one of our girls with something in common."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she agreed. "Just don't let her be completely like you and be a sometimes grouchy, health fanatic, stick in the mud. One is bad enough." Lorelai grinned to show she was teasing him.

"Just for that, I just might make her my complete clone."

"No, you're not," she argued.

"Yes I am."

"No, you're not."

"Yes I am." Luke then started drilling on another long piece of wood. The noise drowned out whatever Lorelai said next which was what he was trying to accomplish.

Jaiden ended up still being just as sick on Monday, causing Lorelai to have to call Erica and cancel their appointment for the week. Boy, did that look bad.

"Hi, it's Lorelai Danes, Jaiden's new foster mom," she greeted into the phone when Erica answered. "Listen, I know this looks bad and all, but I'm calling to cancel this week. You see, Saturday night, early Sunday morning, Jaiden woke up with a fever of 101.3 and hardly any strength. She can barely make it to the bathroom on her own."

"That's completely fine," Erica assured which surprised her. "How is Jaiden doing so far with you?"

"Well, she seems okay. I mean, she's still not completely comfortable with us." Lorelai then went on to explain everything that had happened over the weekend, including a brief summary of what happened with their relatives.

"That's great you want Jaiden to get settled in first and not rush things before inviting people over to meet her. However, I think a week is enough time to start introducing Jaiden to the family. If you feel she needs more time, maybe give her two, but I think it would be fine. How often do you and your parents have these family dinners, if you don't mind me asking?"

"We used to have them every Friday while my daughter was in high school and college, for my parents helping with the tuition. Now that she's done with school, we agreed to once a month just to get the family together, especially when our daughters are in town."

"Honestly, all I can say is, it's your decision whether to bring Jaiden to dinner with your parents," said Erica. "As long as they're not a threat to Jaiden, there shouldn't be a problem. Celia did inform you about case plan confidentiality, correct?"

Loralai nodded. "Yes, she did."

"Okay, so you and your husband know you can't share details about Jaiden's case with anyone, not even with other relatives, and that includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings. Unless Jaiden is willing to share with someone at her discretion."

"Yep, absolutely," Lorelai assured her. "We understand." They talked for a while which Erica suggested possibly skipping this month's dinner altogether and waiting until next month if they were really concerned about introducing Jaiden to the rest of the family.

By Tuesday, Jaiden had gotten most of her strength back. Her fever had also gone down to ninety-eight, however, the cough stayed a few more days.

The treehouse was really coming along. Luke had finished putting down the floor on Sunday, as planned, and by the time Jaiden was feeling better, Wednesday evening, he had it all done, including a ladder Luke drilled into the trunk of the tree that led up to a door on the bottom. All she had to do was push on the door above her to get in.

Jaiden was surprised to hear the treehouse was all hers. Her eyes enlarged at it when Luke told her.

"Go ahead," he motioned his head up towards the treehouse. "Go check it out." Jaiden hesitated at first, but with some encouragement and a gentle push from Lorelai, she made her way over to climb up the ladder.

"Just push on it," Luke called up to her once Jaiden reached the door. Cautiously, she pushed on it as the kid pulled herself up into the treehouse.

Luke ended up going with a large rug he cut to fit in there, in case they ever need to replace or clean it. Besides building the structure, Luke also included a small table he built, Jaiden could kneel at if she wanted to draw or work on homework, as well as a battery-operated Coleman lantern so she could have some light to work by. There was a good sized window on each side, but Luke figured maybe she'd like to camp out in her treehouse, one day. He even put a brand new sleeping bag in there, too and put screens in the windows to help keep out the bugs. He thought about painting it for her but wasn't sure what colors Jaiden liked and didn't want to choose ones she didn't like.

"What do you think?" Luke called up to her, his hands on his sides. "You like it?" There wasn't a response. Jaiden didn't even come back down or stick her head out.

Lorelai smiled at it. "I think she likes it, Luke. You did a wonderful job."

He smiled at his work. They decided to leave Jaiden to her own until dinner was ready.

Lorelai climbed up the ladder, knocking first before sticking her head in. "Dinner's ready if you want to come eat." Jaiden was laying there, looking up at the ceiling. "I'd let ya eat in here, but it's getting late and colder, and you're just getting over the flu, so why don't you come inside. Okay, sweetheart? Maybe over the summer you can camp out here, overnight."

Jaiden pushed herself up into a sitting position scooting over towards the door. Lorelai lowered herself from the treehouse, climbing back down so Jaiden could climb down.

As they headed inside, Lorelai asked, "So you're liking the treehouse?"

Jaiden stared at the ground as she walked a few steps behind her.

"Luke built it just for you. He was worried you'd fall if you sat up in that tree, so we thought this might be a little more safer for you." Lorelai kept glancing back behind her at the kid. "Be sure to tell him thank you. But no rush, okay? Just, whenever you're ready." She smiled. They headed inside which Lorelai held the door open for Jaiden, heading for the kitchen next.

"Dinner's on the table," Luke said when the girls entered the kitchen. "Jaiden, yours is the one on the far end." What happened next, caught the backwards baseball cap and flannel wearing guy off.

Silent as a mouse, but still loud enough he could hear, Luke heard her tell him, "Thank you."

His eyebrows rose in shock. "Uh, you're welcome, sweetie." With that, she walked over to sit in her seat.

Lorelai took Jaiden's spot, folding her arms, lightly as Luke continued to watch Jaiden. He was still getting over the shock. "I told her to say thank you for building her the treehouse whenever she was ready. I didn't think it would be that soon."

"I wasn't even expecting a thank-you." It was a surprise to both of them. It was a good surprise, though.

Eventually, by the end of the week, Jaiden felt one hundred percent better, and they knew that when she fought Luke back once again, in her sleep. However, ever since Luke had sang to her the night Jaiden first got sick, waking her up was cut short. Jaiden seemed to respond well to Luke singing to her. She still flinched around him and remained distance, but it was a start.

Jaiden was also still weary of Lorelai, as well, but seemed more relaxed around her. They ended up giving Jaiden a week before getting her enrolled in school, and once Friday rolled around, Lorelai asked if Jaiden was okay with going to her parents' house for dinner. Jaiden didn't seem one hundred percent sure, so Lorelai didn't make her go.

Thankfully, it was her father who had answered when Lorelai called to inform them they wouldn't be able to make it. Richard was more than understanding, assuring her he would handle her mother. They both agreed to skip dinner this month and wait until the following month. What caught Lorelai by surprise, though, was when Richard stopped by for a visit, the following week. It wasn't to try and meet Jaiden, but to speak with Lorelai, stating he had ended up doing some research.

"You, what?" Lorelai stood there on her front porch, stunned as she stared back at her father, loss for words.

"I thought reading up on what my, hopefully, future granddaughter had been through would help us understand how to communicate with her," he explained further. "It's really quite heartbreaking the things children have to endure by their own parents and other relatives."

Lorelai nodded. "Parents should be the ones taking care of their kids, and shouldn't make them fear living in their own home where they're supposed to feel safe."

"There's actually a chapter I read that you might consider taking a look at."

"And what's that?"

Richard led Lorelai over to where he had parked, over on the passenger's side. He opened the car door to grab the book on the top of a stack of books on helping traumatized and abused children. Opening it up to where Richard had it marked with a bookmark and taking his reading glasses out from his front pocket, he held it out for Lorelai to take, pointing out a bulleted list of characteristics of children who had been sexually abused.

Reading through the bullet points, some of them sounded awfully familiar to a certain kid and it made her eyes water and gloss over, her face growing hot as Lorelai's heart shattered. It made perfect sense why she was more frightened around Luke and Michel than she was around Lorelai. What kind of person would do something that awful to a defenseless child, was her initial thought.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After Richard shared his research with her, Lorelai had began to worry with dozens of questions. So she did the only logical thing she could think of: she called Celia. It rang several times before going to a voicemail so Lorelai had to leave a message and hoped she'd call back very soon. It was at least thirty minutes before the phone rang and was relieved to see it was Celia calling back.

"Hey, you sounded awfully distraught in your message. Is everything alright? Is something wrong with Jaiden?"

"Well… sort of, but not really." She was pacing around the living room. "I mean, Jaiden's fine, physically."

"Then, what is it?"

"My dad decided to get some books to read up on how to understand Jaiden, better."

"Nice, that's awesome. Good on your dad for doing that. You must be a close family there," she said, sounding impressed.

Lorelai couldn't help chuckle a little at the sound of her and her parents being close. "I wouldn't say we're the Bradys," she joked. "But it was a surprise that he would do something like that. In a good way, though. Shows us how much onboard he is about this whole thing. Hopefully, this will help my mother understand. She's not exactly showing much patience with giving Jaiden time to adjust. When she wants things a certain way, she'll make certain it's done."

In a serious tone, Celia told her, "Yes, that would be a problem. You just described one of Jaiden's history with her own mother."

"What do you mean?"

"Her mother also wanted certain things done her way and if Jaiden didn't do exactly as told when she wanted, her mother would punish her," she explained. "If your mother was to say or do something like that in front of her, Jaiden might grow to fear her."

Lorelai closed her eyes at that, suddenly remembering she had read something along those lines in Jaiden's case file. She rubbed the bridge of her nose in one hand. Hopefully, her father could get through to her mother, especially if she wanted to be a part of Jaiden's life. "We'll talk to her," she assured. Lifting her head, Lorelai got down to the reason why she was calling. "Was her mother the only family member? What about a father?"

"Her birth certificate says the father is unknown and the mother says there hasn't ever been one around. She doesn't even recall conceiving Jaiden. She just woke up one morning, throwing up."

"No recollection at all?"

"None. Her own father was around for Jaiden's early years, but his whereabouts are currently unknown."

Hearing there was another relative alerted her attention. "A grandfather?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"One of the books my father was reading through had a list of characteristics that resembled the characteristics Jaiden shows, which gave me an awful feeling in the pit of my gut that she could have possibly been robbed of her innocence at an early age," Lorelai explained to her. Just saying it out loud made her want to cry.

There was a period of silence before Celia spoke. "I mean, there isn't anything mentioned to my knowledge that she was sexually abused. Perpetrators have been known to get away with those crimes without ever being caught. Sometimes it carries with a victim well into adulthood before finally getting out."

Lorelai swallowed a huge lump that had formed in her throat. "Do you think it could have been the grandfather if it is true?"

"I don't know, Lorelai. Those traits can also be from any kind of abuse or traumatic event. That's why it can go undetected. Unless Jaiden opens up and tells us, we may never know."

Lorelai dropped her face in her hand, holding it over her eyes. She could feel the tears rush to the surface.

"If this is true, though, we're gonna have to find a way to get through to her, to confirm it. If we find him and the grandfather decides he wants to take custody…" Lorelai heard Celia give a heartbreaking sigh.

During the phone conversation, Lorelai had been so focused and worried about Jaiden, that she disregarded the beeping that signaled someone was trying to call. Her cellphone was dead, having forgotten to plug it in when she got home from work. Not to mention, she wasn't paying attention to the time either, to realize it was past the time for Jaiden to get out of school.

Luke was at the diner when the diner's phone rang.

Hurrying over, he answered it, placing it between his head and shoulder. "Luke's."

"Am I speaking to Luke Danes?" a woman on the other line asked.

"Yes you are. Who's this?"

"Mr. Danes, my name is Diane Porter. I'm the secretary at Stars Hollow Elementary school," she introduced herself, professionally. "I have Jaiden Reece here. No one has been here to pick her up. I've tried your wife's work and cell, and your home number, but never received an answer."

That didn't make any sense. Lorelai usually answers from one of those. In fact, she's been picking up Jaiden ever since she started school. Nonetheless, Luke assured he was on his way. She thanked him before ending the call which he also apologized.

Letting Caesar know, Luke hurried out to his truck and headed for the school. He hoped Lorelai had just lost track of time or something like that, and everything was just fine. Luke pulled up to the school where most of the students had already left. There were a few stragglers who either had after school clubs, or sports, or detention, waiting for their rides. He headed inside the main office to see Jaiden sitting there, hugging her knees to her as she stared at the carpet. She jumped when Luke called her name, even though he tried to sound gentle as possible.

"It's okay, sweetie. I'm just here to pick you up," he assured her, holding up his hands towards her. He apologized to both her and the secretary before he and Jaiden left, heading out to his truck.

Luke opened the passenger side door for her, letting her climb in before shutting it and hurried around to his side, sliding in under the wheel. First thing he did was switch on the radio to a country station where Sara Evans' _Suds in the Bucket_ was playing.

Luke tried to make small talk as best he could. "My daughter's getting close to being eighteen, in a few years," he pointed at the radio when the song mentioned it.

Jaiden stared out the window, clear on the other side of the bench seat, not looking at him at all. He wasn't sure if she was even listening or not.

"It's hard knowing adulthood is right around the corner for my little girl," he still continued to say, hoping for some kind of response. Anything will do, really. "What makes it even harder is knowing I missed a huge chunk of her childhood as it is. Would have been there if I could, but it was out of my control. I didn't know she existed until she was twelve and came into the diner one day, asking for some of my hair for a DNA experiment." Luke quickly added, "I'm sure you probably don't know what that is, yet. It's what we're made of and how we know if we're related or not." Nothing. Things got quiet for a moment as they listened to the radio. John Michael Montgomery's _The Little Girl_ came on, making things even more harder.

Finally, Luke let out a sigh under his breath. "I can't imagine what you've been through. I don't know what I'd do if someone raised a hand to one of our girls. I just want you to know," he glanced over at Jaiden, keeping most of his focus on the road ahead. "Whatever you need or even want, we'll do our best to make it happen. And when you're ready to talk, I've always been a good listener and I'll believe whatever it is you have to say. So don't feel like nobody will ever believe or hear ya. Okay?" He glanced over at her again. Jaiden squirmed a little in her seat, but her gaze remained on her window.

Eventually, he pulled into the driveway, behind Lorelai's jeep and parked. Luke stepped out and offered to let Jaiden climb out on his side, stepping back so she wouldn't feel uncomfortable.

"We're home!" he called out as they walked inside and shut the door behind them.

Lorelai had just gotten off the phone with Celia, having given her an update of how things were going. "In here," she replied from where she was still standing in the same spot.

"Hey, did you forget the time? What happened?" Luke made his way over, holding his hands out to the sides.

Lorelai gasped, looking over at Jaiden before switching over to the clock on the wall. She dropped her head in her hands. "Oh, Jaiden. I am so sorry," she apologized when Lorelai lifted it, afterwards. "I was talking to Celia on the phone and completely lost track of time. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

Jaiden stared at the floor, holding onto the straps of her _Go Diego, Go_ backpack Lorelai let her pick out. Her eyes did lift up, but towards the window where her tree house could be seen from. Taking that as a hint she wanted to go up there, Lorelai assured her, she could. Turning around, Jaiden headed back outside and over to climb up to her tree house.

Once she was up there, Luke finally said, "So, that must have been one interesting conversation to miss track of time and not answer when the school called," he stated, amused while holding his hands on his sides.

"My dad stopped by, today to show me something."

"Which was?"

Lorelai explained the whole thing to him, including her conversation with Celia.

Luke stared at her in shock. "Oh no," he managed to say. It did make sense. That meant it was going to be that much harder proving to Jaiden he was a good guy. Though, his mother's song seemed to be making progress, at least.

She ended up breaking down now that Luke was there to pull her in and comfort her. Until then, Lorelai had been holding it together, or trying to.

"Hope isn't lost. Not yet," he tried to assure her. The whole time, Luke couldn't help feel sorrow for the little girl and hatred for the jackass who did that to her, wishing he could get his hands on them.

As the days with Jaiden continued on and a month passed, Luke and Lorelai continued to show her, she was in a safe and loving home surrounded by people who cared about her and wanted to love her for who she was. At school, Jaiden kept to herself, not communicating with anyone, not even the other kids. With being behind in school, Jaiden had to work one on one with a special teacher, to help her catch up, but Jaiden didn't seem interested in books and math, spelling. Something did catch Luke's attention.

One afternoon, she was playing in the yard for once. Luke had just gotten home, parking behind Lorelai's jeep where he noticed she was using a stick with a curved end. Jaiden was whacking rocks with it.

"Hey. You playing golf or hockey, there," he asked, carefully coming over to her. When Jaiden didn't answer and eyed him instead, Luke used his thumb, pointing it up and down for each. She held her thumb up, showing she was playing hockey. His spirits felt lifted at the possibility Jaiden liked hockey, a sport he was familiar with from when he was about her age. "Can I help show ya how you hold the stick?"

Hesitating at first, Jaiden lifted the stick in one hand, holding it out for him to take.

Luke took it and moved close by, remembering to keep some space between them. He then showed her the correct way one would hold a hockey stick. "Place your left hand, here right on the end," he explained while also demonstrating, as well, "and place your other hand down here." Luke gripped the stick in his right hand around the middle before taking a practice swing. "Just like that. Here." Passing the stick back to her, he had Jaiden try, which she let him help position her hands. Even through her hands, Luke could sense her tense up at the touch. It was a surprise when she didn't flinch away from him, but she never took her eyes off him, watching like a hawk. It was difficult hitting rocks, though.

"You know, I still have my old hockey stick. How about we go get another one and a ball, and we can pass it, back and forth with each other. Would you like to?"

Jaiden gave a slight, one shoulder shrug.

"It's up to you. I don't mind at all." He gave her a kind, encouraging smile.

Her lower lip was sucked in as she started to chew on it.

"You don't have to," Luke assured her. "I just thought you would like to have your own real hockey stick like the pros. Remember what I said when I told you we'd get you something you need or wanted?"

"Can I have a shirt too?" The question came out so sudden Jaiden turned red in the cheeks around her scar.

"You mean a jersey? Like what they wear during a game with their number?" Luke pretended not to have noticed, not wanting to draw attention when she was embarrassed enough. "Sure. We can even get, like, a small goal net if you want. Just let me go let Lorelai know where we're going so she won't worry where we are. Okay?"

Jaiden nodded.

Standing up, Luke headed over to the house, relief filling up inside of him, hopping he may have found something to help Jaiden open up around them.

"Lorelai? Lorelai!" he went inside and began searching around for her, wanting to tell her. "Lorelai, where are you?" In fact, Luke sounded like a kid excited to go the circus for the first time.

"What's up?" Lorelai came from upstairs, heading down the stairs.

"You're not gonna believe this," he told her.

"About what?" She made her way over to where he was standing.

"Jaiden likes hockey," was the first thing he blurted out.

"How do you know that?"

"She was playing it when I pulled up." He then went into a rant about what had just happened outside, only this time, he was going on about how wonderful this was instead of displaying his disgust about a topic.

Lorelai gave an excited gasp as she listened. "Really?"

"And when I suggested on getting her own hockey set so she wouldn't have to use a stick and rocks, she asked if she could have a jersey, too, and she's willing to come with me to pick it out."

Another excited gasp came out. "Luke, that's awesome."

"I know, right?" They couldn't help smile in hope they were reaching a breakthrough. "I should probably get back out there." He pointed over his shoulder, not wanting to linger to long in fear Jaiden would have second thoughts if he waited too long.

Lorelai agreed and ushered him from the house, coming out to wave to the kid.

Luke hurried down the porch steps, heading for his trunk. "Ready to go, Jaiden?" he called over to her. Jaiden dropped her stick she had resumed playing with, and met him over there where Luke opened his door, letting her climb in first. Jaiden still showed some hesitance, but at least she was giving him a chance.

Lorelai stood there once Luke was inside. "Have fun, sweetheart," she said, waving at her. Lorelai continued to wave as Luke backed out of the driveway and headed into town to the sporting goods store.

When they reached the store, Luke parked on the street. This time, he had Jaiden get out on her side since his was on the side with traffic. She followed him inside where they ran into Kirk, who was working there at the moment.

"Hey, Luke," the guy greeted. "What can I help you with?"

Luke decided to take Kirk's offer. "Where is the hockey section, Kirk?"

"That would be over there in the back left corner," Kirk pointed in the direction of the lefthand part of the store.

Luke thanked him, and guided Jaiden in that direction. When they found where Kirk said it was, he looked around at everything. "Okay. What color hockey stick would ya like?"

Jaiden looked around at the different kinds of sticks that were hung there. There were more to choose from then when Luke was a kid, back when they were just made from wood. He made sure to find the youth equipment, too. While she was deciding, Luke went ahead and grabbed the goals. Eventually, she shyly pointed to one with a black handle and a yellow bottom part.

"You want that one?" he nodded at it, looking over at her.

Jaiden nodded.

Grabbing the stick off its hook, Luke kneeled to her level, testing to make sure it was just her size, making sure that was for sure the one she wanted.

"Would you like a helmet?" he asked, thinking mostly about safety in case a puck or ball whacked her in the head.

Jaiden nodded and picked out a black one.

Luke tested to make sure one fitted her head, helping to attach the strap under her chin, adjusting it as needed. "How does that feel? Good? Or too tight?"

She nodded again.

"Good?"

She nodded a third time.

Next, he let her pick out a jersey where they had plain ones of different colors and professional teams. Jaiden picked out a jersey for Hartford's Wolf Pack minor league team, with a wolf on the front with it's logo. Luke had her try it on over her long sleeve pink striped shirt, also making sure it was her size.

All set, Luke paid for everything up front, with Kirk also ringing them up. That was also when Luke introduced the two, to each other, assuring Kirk was so harmless, a fly could overpower him. Kirk didn't really appreciate the remark, but Luke told him to go with it this one time for Jaiden's sake to help make things good between them and not afraid of him. In Luke's mind, he couldn't imagine anyone being afraid of harmless ol' Kirk, but after knowing Jaiden, it made him a believer.

Back home, Luke set the goals up in the yard before the two played one-on-one with each other. It was amazing seeing how well Jaiden seemed to be getting hockey down so fast, not to mention, she was willing to let him play with her, using his own hockey stick. It took some time to get her going, but once she was, Jaiden had it.

Lorelai watched from the porch, unable to stop smiling. She too was amazed how much Jaiden seemed to be enjoying herself. This was the most active, not to mention, the most animated she's been since they known Jaiden. They hoped this was indeed the breakthrough Luke and Lorelai were hoping for.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Jaiden had really come to enjoy the hockey set Luke had gotten for her. In fact, it got the kid so much more active and not hiding out so much. There were still times when Jaiden retreated to herself, either hiding in her treehouse or upstairs in her room, underneath her bed. Luke made sure to grab every chance he could to ask if he could play with her, coaching Jaiden on how to become even better. It even impressed Jaiden's team, especially Erica. She couldn't believe the progress Jaiden was making and how much she was opening up.

With the progress Jaiden has made, Luke and Lorelai slowly started introducing her to their family and friends, starting with Liz. They didn't want to introduce Doula quite yet since Jaiden wasn't one hundred percent comfortable around them, but they thought Luke's sister would be the best fit to start things off. Luke made sure to remind his sister to take things slow and to make sure to give Jaiden, space.

Jaiden was shooting all of the balls and pucks into the goal net, over and over, lining them up when Luke got home with his sister.

Lorelai had been watching Jaiden from the front porch, a cup of coffee in her hands. She stood up and made her way over as the Danes siblings met her halfway. The three exchanged breaths and pep talks before Lorelai called Jaiden over.

Jaiden had jumped when she looked over at them. She hesitantly made her way over like she was in trouble, looking like a scolded puppy.

"You're not in trouble, sweetheart. We just want you to meet someone."

She stopped a few feet away. Her eyes fell on Liz, basically a stranger to her.

"Jaiden, this is my sister, Liz," Luke was the one who introduced them. Looking over at his sister, he said, "Liz, this is Jaiden."

Liz bent over, folding her hands between her legs, "Nice to meet you, Jay. You mind if I call you, Jay?" She smiled at the little girl.

The little girl stared up at Liz, frozen stiff. Soon, her gaze dropped to the ground, her chin pinned to her chest.

Taking just a couple steps, Liz kneeled in front of her, leaving some space. "It's okay, sweetie. I'm not gonna hurt you, I promise. I got a little girl, myself. A real cutie just like you are. She's a lot younger than you, but she's dying to meet ya."

No response. By this point, Jaiden was catatonic once again.

Lorelai had Liz step back while Luke took his sister's spot, kneeling in front of Jaiden, softly singing his mother's song to her. He had eventually learned it actually helped Jaiden to relax whenever she went catatonic. Soon enough, her gaze lifted towards him and Luke could see those blue-green eyes of hers which he smiled for her.

"That's Mom's song," Liz commented when Luke had stood up again.

"It came to me one night when Jaiden got sick and ever since then, I've been singing it for her," he gave a modest shrug.

She smirked. "Never took you as a lullaby-kind of guy, big brother."

"I know, right?" Lorelai agreed, both ladies now harmlessly started teasing him about it. Jaiden must have picked up on it and didn't like Luke being teased, or someone teased in general, because she gave a little grunt, getting the adults' attention where she gave them a sour look and shook her head at them. "What is it, sweetheart? Do you not like us teasing Luke?"

She shook her head again, glaring up at her.

"We weren't doing it to be mean, sweetie," Liz assured the little girl but continued to receive the sour look as if the women were monsters or something.

Luke couldn't help smile at having Jaiden stand up for him. "It's okay, Jaiden," he also assured her. Luke tried to reach out and pat her on the shoulder. The moment she felt the first pat, Jaiden flinched away his touch, and moved away, staring up at him while panting a little. Her chest was moving a little faster than it should have.

Rory scheduled a visit the same week as April's spring break, who was spending it with them, as well. Luke closed early for the day to head up to the airport to pick up his daughter while Rory drove there. Lorelai hurried outside to meet her daughter, both hugging each other for a really long time. Both Luke and Lorelai prepared Jaiden for the girls' arrivals, assuring the little one they knew to give her, space. The girls were both excited to finally meet their hopefully future sister, being kept up-to-date with what had been going on. Well, the vague info they were allowed to know, anyway. April was disappointed Jaiden had no interest in books, science, or anything else that had to do with school, and neither her or Rory knew how to connect with sports.

It was a long time before Lorelai and Rory pulled apart.

"So? Where is she?"

"She's inside watching cartoons." Lorelai helped carry in some of her daughter's things, setting them in the foyer, for now. _Nick Jr's_ cartoon moose host could be heard as he introduced the next cartoon. "Jaiden, I'd like ya to meet my daughter, Rory."

Jaiden stood up from where she was sitting, slouched on the couch. She looked up shyly at Rory.

"Hi there, Jaiden," she waved. "I'm Rory." Rory held a hand out for Jaiden to shake but she just stared at it. So, Rory just took her hand away. "How do you like it here, so far?"

Jaiden dropped her gaze to the floor.

"You know what would help out a lot?" Lorelai spoke up.

Rory looked over at her mom. "What's that?"

"If you dance and sing the Hokey Pokey. Jaiden loves that," she lied, totally messing with her daughter, now.

However, Rory was unfazed. "Oh, you mean like you told me to put sugar on my foot for Paul Anka?"

"Oh no, I'm serious, this time." Lorelai tried her best to keep a straight face.

"Uh huh." Unlike Paul Anka, the little girl can speak up for herself. So, Rory turned back to Jaiden. "Is that true, Jaiden?"

"Okay, fine," she gave in when Jaiden didn't look up. "I was joking."

Rory smirked at her mother. "Thought so." She then suddenly remembered something and went back over to where they had dropped off her stuff, going through her suitcase until she pulled out a wrapped gift.

"Oh, sweetheart. You didn't have to bring me anything."

Rory returned with the gift in hand, holding it out of reach when Lorelai tried taking it. "I didn't bring it for you, I brought it for Jaiden." She turned back to the kid and held the gift out to her. "Here, Jaiden. This is for you."

There was a moment's hesitance before a small, shakily hand took the gift. They encouraged Jaiden to open it. Ripping off the wrapping paper, Lorelai asked her for it, wading the paper up into a ball.

"Nice, a movie. Isn't that great, sweetheart?" said Lorelai.

"I had to get G.G. a birthday present anyway, so I thought I would grab something for Jaiden, too. I went to the video store because G.G. wanted the movie, _Tinkerbell_ but wasn't sure if I should get another copy for Jaiden, so the lady working there said this would be the perfect movie for her."

Lorelai was looking at the DVD cover that was in Jaiden's hands. " _Meet the Robinsons_?"

"It's about this kid who is an inventor who grows up in an orphanage, with unsuccessful chances of being adopted," Rory explained. "The lady suggested it when I told her you were trying to adopt Jaiden so I figured this would be the perfect movie. And, besides, Jaiden should be introduced to our movie nights, right?"

"True. I can't believe I haven't done that yet."

"You're slipping, Mom," Rory teased her with a nudge.

At that moment, the front door opened as Luke called out, "Look who's here." April walked in the door. She set her own stuff down next to Rory's as Lorelai and Rory met her halfway to greet the teen, hugging April.

Jaiden remained rooted to the same spot.

"You have a safe plane ride?" Lorelai asked after they hugged, hello.

"Yeah, but the movie choices were terrible," April replied.

"What were they?" asked Rory.

"Either a bunch of kid movies or some action type of movie with lots of violence involved," she said.

"Well, I hope you don't mind watching a kid movie because Rory brought Jaiden one, and we thought tonight we can have a family movie night," Lorelai said.

"Do I have to watch it?" April questioned, both not sounding and looking pleased to hear that.

"Yup. It's mandatory family fun and you're part of this family," she insisted.

April tried looking over to Luke for help, but he was staying out of it, stating Lorelai was in charge of stuff like that. He assured her he wasn't much of an avid movie watcher, especially kid-friendly ones, but Lorelai and Rory did have a point about doing something as a family to help Jaiden feel more part of the family.

Speaking of, April made her way over to where Jaiden was still standing when she noticed the little girl. "You must be Jaiden," she said. "I'm April."

Jaiden continued to stare at the movie, not making eye contact with the older girl.

Turning back to the rest, April said, "Still not speaking, I see."

Lorelai shook her head. "A word or two sneaks out, here and there, though." She smiled over at Jaiden.

So, as Rory and April got unpacked in their room, Lorelai ordered the food, making her rounds to make sure if anyone had any special requests. When she returned from upstairs, Lorelai made her way over to where Jaiden was watching _Franklin_ the turtle.

Sitting on the other end of the coffee table from where Jaiden sat on the couch, she tried to see if the little girl had any special requests. "Hey, sweetheart? Do you like Chinese food?"

Jaiden was slouched on the couch, holding her stuffed dog beside her. The movie was on the cushion beside her. She glanced over in Lorelai's direction to slightly shrug her shoulders.

"Have you had Chinese food before?"

She shook her head.

"You never had Chinese before?"

Again, she shook her head.

"Well, it looks like I'm gonna have to order our usual everything." Lorelai gave Jaiden a wink before standing up to call and place the order. Once the food was ordered, she took the movie, removing the plastic wrapping to place the disc inside the DVD player. Lorelai didn't turn off the cartoon Jaiden was watching until the food arrived, switching it over to the DVD menu screen.

Rory grabbed the plates and silverware while Lorelai set the food out on the coffee table, making Jaiden's first.

"I'm gonna give ya some of everything so you can try it. If you don't like any of it, you don't have to eat the rest. If you want more, just let me know. Okay?" Lorelai explained to Jaiden as the others made their plates.

Before Luke sat down, he asked, "I'm getting a drink from the kitchen. Does anybody want anything while I'm up?" All three of the older girls each asked for a soda. "What about you, Jaiden? Want anything to drink? Soda? Water? Milk?"

"Coffee," Lorelai added, trying to be funny.

Luke threw her an unfazed scowl. "We are not putting Jaiden on the same caffeine-addicted road you and Rory are on," he insisted.

"Why not, Luke?" Rory asked. "There's nothing wrong with us." She shared a snicker with her mother.

He just ignored them, turning back to Jaiden. "Anything, sweetie?" Luke went down the list, one at a time so Jaiden could nod or shake her head. She nodded at milk. So, he went to the kitchen to pour a glass of milk for her, bringing it and three cans of the kiwi-strawberry soda, passing them out, giving Jaiden, hers first.

Luke, Lorelai, Rory, and April squeezed on the couch while Jaiden laid on the floor, underneath the coffee table. Lorelai tried offering to make room for her, but Jaiden didn't want to, propping herself up on her elbows so she could eat and drink her milk. Lorelai pressed play on the remote so the movie could start. The movie already started out sad which Rory pointed out. April ended up liking the science and inventing aspect of the movie while Luke kept questioning the animated Disney logic and plot holes throughout the beginning until the girls, except for Jaiden, finally shushed him, though Lorelai did nod when one of the characters had an invention of a caffeine patch, equivalent to twelve cups of coffee, stating that wasn't a bad idea and commented someone should get right on it.

Sometime during the movie, Jaiden crawled out from under the table, towards them. However, when she tried to stand while holding onto the plate in both hands, her back bumped the table and dropped her plate onto the floor. Some of it splattered on April's pants which she wasn't fond of, instantly blurting it out. Jaiden instantly retreated back under the table like a scared animal.

Lorelai paused the movie. "Alright, everyone relax. It's just a little spilled food."

April looked remorseful when she realized her mistake of getting upset too quickly when Lorelai tried to convince Jaiden to come out while Luke had picked up her plate off the floor, volunteering to go get paper towels from the kitchen, taking it with him.

"I'm sorry, Jaiden," April apologized sincerely. She took some paper towels from her dad when Luke brought them back with him and used them to wipe off what she could from her pants. Rory offered to help clean up the spilled food along with him. Luke also brought back some cleaner, especially using it to get what splattered on the couch, as well.

"It's alright, sweetheart. Nobody's mad at you," Lorelai assured Jaiden, having everyone respond, to help her. "Remember, accidents happen. You're not in trouble." She looked like a scolded puppy, curled up in the fetal position. She still remained in that position once they finished cleaning up the mess. Rory and April tried sticking their heads in further, but Lorelai nudged them back, asking, "you wouldn't do that to a cornered animal, would ya?"

April said, "Good point," which Rory agreed.

Luke stepped in, figuratively, to try and ease some of the tension by singing the song. Every time he had an audience other than just Lorelai, it always felt awkward, especially when Luke never shared with anyone his love for music. He never even told anyone he owned a guitar.

Soon, Jaiden was able to relax and crawl out from under the table. She crawled out from the other side, but still, it was able to bring her out. That's what was important.

"You alright, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked.

Jaiden gave a timid nod.

"Were you coming to get more?"

There was some hesitance but she nodded some more. Luke went to wash off Jaiden's plate, bringing it back so Lorelai could give her some more food, asking what it was she wanted more of. The orange chicken and fried rice were the top seller scored in Jaiden's book which Luke and Rory pointed out neither saw any on the floor or plate while they were cleaning. Not even one piece of rice. That was a first for Jaiden to eat all of, telling them she must have really liked it. After Luke got her some more milk, the movie resumed without anymore interruptions.

The whole movie despite it's plot holes ended up being a really good movie. Even Luke enjoyed it. It even got a tear or two from the girls, including Jaiden. Lorelai was the one to notice when she asked if she liked the movie and leaned to the side to see around the table.

"Come here, sweetheart," she called to Jaiden. "Jaiden."

There a moment before Jaiden sat up to see over the table where Lorelai motioned her over with her hand, remembering to assure her, she wasn't in any trouble. Standing to her feet, Jaiden made her way over, still keeping her distance.

"What the movie is saying is like what we've been trying to do," she reminded her. "I know things hadn't been easy and letting go of the past is hard to do. We don't expect you to forget it just like that, because you can't. But we are willing to help you to be able to move on and be the kid, no the person you are meant to be. We've all been through things and we've all hurt each other. None of us are perfect. But we learned from our mistakes and moved forward, making us the family we are today. We love each other and would love to have you a part of our family, because we already have fallen in love with you, sweetheart. Nothing could ever make us change our minds."

Luke spoke up. "But we don't want to make you do anything you don't want to. Whenever you're ready, you just say the word." All four gave the little girl a warm smile.

"I just met ya and it feels like you finally made our family whole, like we've been missing someone to fill that hole," Rory added.

"And I always wanted a little sister," April also said.

By this point, they could see her chest start to heave faster as Jaiden gave her dog a tight squeeze.

"It's alright, sweetheart." Lorelai assured her. "We really do love you." What happened next, caught everyone off guard. Her chest had started heaving after Lorelai confessed they loved her.

Jaiden suddenly screamed out, "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! YOU'RE SO WORTHLESS! WHY DON'T YOU GO DIE?!" The girls and Luke were speechless by the outburst, not knowing what to say. The next thing Lorelai knew, Jaiden started flailing her arms. She nearly made contact but Lorelai managed to duck and immediately wrestled to grab ahold of her wrists. When she finally did catch them, Jaiden was still screaming out, repeatedly, saying, "I hate you!"

"Sweetheart, it's alright. It's alright. You don't have to be afraid anymore," Lorelai tried to tell her. Eventually, Luke had to stand up, to kneel at Jaiden's right, taking ahold of her upper arms. He tried to hold a gentle grip on her but Jaiden was struggling too much. Luke tried to shush her before singing another verse of the song. After five minutes of a struggle, Jaiden finally settled down, now sitting on her knees. When she was calm enough, she jerked herself free which Luke let go. With one quick look that she couldn't hold for too long, Jaiden sprinted from the room and ran outside, stopping only long enough to reach up and open the front door.

Lorelai saw Jaiden climb up to her treehouse. She was heartbroken by the whole thing. The rest noticed what she was looking at, catching Jaiden before she disappeared inside.

Rory turned to her mom. "I'm sure Jaiden didn't mean it, Mom," she tried to comfort her, touching a hand to her shoulder.

"I know." Lorelai tried to hold it together for everyone but it was difficult. Just thinking about how much pain the little girl was holding onto.

"I don't have any clue as to what she could be going through, but it's possible Jaiden could have been told that at some point in her life," April suggested.

"That does seem likely," Rory agreed, looking over at her before turning back her mom. "Don't let it get to ya. You're doing great, Mom."

Luke had shifted over and lovingly touched her knee. "No matter how many times we say it, we have to keep trying until we've proved it," he told her. "Life isn't a Disney movie. It can't be solved in ninety minutes."

Her eyes had begun to water. Lorelai tried to quickly wipe the tears away before anyone could see them but it was useless. "I know. I know." Her voice was breaking by this point. "It just breaks my heart watching her lash out like that. I just want to take her into my arms already."

"We're get there. It'll just take some time."

Lorelai sniffed in. "Somebody should go out there before Jaiden gets sick again."

"I can try if you want," Rory was the one to volunteer. She stood up which Luke scooted backward to let her through, reminding her on how to handle it. "I will." Rory threw on her jacket before grabbing Jaiden's, heading outside. They saw her stop at the tree and call up there, vaguely hearing her. After a few minutes, Rory climbed up to the treehouse and for a long while, only saw her legs.

Luke started to pick up all of the food, asking April for help. They took the food into the kitchen where they put what was left into containers to finish off the next day or two. Once all the food had made its way into the kitchen, though, Luke told April she could go get ready for bed if she wanted, assuring he could put the food away. While he was scooping what was left of the fried rice into a container, the front door opened. Luke looked up in time to see Rory leading Jaiden straight to her room.

When she noticed him, she told him, "I told her, she can take my room and I'll bunk with April."

Luke nodded and let Rory handle things while she got Jaiden settled in her room. Rory also went upstairs to grab some of Jaiden's things, bringing them to the downstairs bathroom where Jaiden wanted to shower first before going to bed. Both Luke and Lorelai were relieved Rory was able to convince her to come back inside before Jaiden got sick again.

Everyone eventually went to bed once they were ready, falling asleep after a long day. However, their slumber was interrupted by Jaiden crying out as it came accustomed to be, every night. In fact, Luke had even started waking up right before, already knowing it was going to happen. Except this time, he had to remind himself Jaiden was downstairs this time. Even being downstairs, her cries could still be heard throughout the house, waking all of them.

Paul Anka of course had come to alert them before beating them back down there, who was the only one down there with Jaiden. Curious, Rory and April followed their parents, standing back with Lorelai as Luke went in there to help settle her down.

He sat on the edge of the bed as Jaiden tossed and turned, crying out. They could see the tears pouring from her closed eyes even as her head shook from side to side. Luke pinned her wrists down and made no haste, already knowing what to do by this point. This time, he had to keep singing the song, over and over while Lorelai held Paul Anka at bay.

After a few minutes, Lorelai looked up at the girls to see Rory had to put her arm around April, who was holding her head against the young woman.

It took ten minutes but Luke was able to wake Jaiden. The moment her eyes opened and saw him over her, Jaiden flinched from his hold, scooting as far away, as possible. Though, unlike hers, Rory's bed wasn't against a wall and the little girl ended up falling backwards onto the floor.

Luke quickly got up onto his right knee to see over the edge. Jaiden was lying on her back, squeezing her eyes shut tight.

"Luke, is she okay?" Lorelai asked, worried and concerned for the little girl.

Luke spun his legs over to the other side, kneeling beside her. "Sweetie, you okay?" he repeated Lorelai's question to her. His question was answered when Jaiden's eyes bolted open and quickly moved underneath the bed, somehow finding a small space among Rory's books, away from Luke.

Lorelai finally let go of Paul Anka. Paul Anka darted over and crawled underneath to join Jaiden, who got as far away as possible and clung onto the dog. Sadly, it seemed like things had taken a step backwards, and just when it seemed like they were doing well.

With Paul Anka in charge now, Luke got to his feet and left the room, shutting the door, leaving it open, ajar.

"I shouldn't have told her, we loved her. At least not yet," Lorelai couldn't help say, shaking her head, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Hey, stop that," Luke scolded, gently but firm. "Jaiden needs to hear that. She really does. That's probably what scared her."

"Yeah, Mom. Luke's right," said Rory.

"I don't know. I think it may have been too soon." Even though it wasn't her fault and Lorelai knew it, she couldn't help blame herself.

"We have to be honest with her, Lorelai," Luke told her. "And that includes telling her we love her. I knew that since the day we met."

Lorelai stared over at the almost closed door. It took all she had not to go in there and take Jaiden into her arms. That's what she's been wanting to do the whole month and a half Jaiden's been there. It took so much strength not to give in, Lorelai would have rather tried giving up coffee.

Eventually, once things seemed calm again, the four of them went back to bed. Lorelai of course had to check in on Jaiden, who was fast asleep again, an arm wrapped around Paul Anka.

In a whisper, she said, "Thanks, Paul Anka," before following after everyone.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The next morning, Luke was the first one up, of course. Letting Lorelai sleep, knowing she didn't sleep well, he got dressed and made his way downstairs, going to the kitchen to start on breakfast. By a streak of luck, Jaiden's spring break also landed the same week as April's, so Luke let her sleep as well. Being right there, off the kitchen, he made sure to be quiet as he possibly could. After last night, Luke figured it was a pancakes kind of morning so he got the ingredients, along with a mixing bowl and rubber spatula, mixing everything together while the small, electric, portable griddle warmed up. He even added chocolate chips to the batter.

Right as Luke was about to form the first pancake onto the griddle, his ears caught a sound that sounded like whimpering, which also produced some crying but it wasn't loud enough to wake the whole house this time. It was soft to where only he could hear it.

Turning the heat to its lowest temperature, Luke made his way over to Rory's bedroom door and softly knocked on the door as he stuck his head in the room. Jaiden was still underneath the bed, consistently producing pitiful crying noises.

"Jaiden?" The noises continued, bringing him into the room, moving around to the other side of the bed. He then moved closer, kneeling on the floor to look underneath. Her eyes were still closed but her hand was outstretched, holding her left knee like it was hurting or something. The position Jaiden was laying in looked painful enough. "Jaiden, sweetie." Being careful as he could, Luke reached a hand under there to gently shake her shoulder.

Jaiden woke with a start, bolting her head up. Unfortunately, it collided with the bottom of the bed.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to scare you. Your head okay?" Luke kept his voice down, in a soft, gentle tone. It seemed fine, especially when Jaiden suddenly grabbed onto her knee once more. Realization sunk in that it might be a leg cramp she was experiencing. Having Paul Anka move out of there, Luke tried to convince Jaiden to let him help her take away the pain. It took ten minutes before she allowed him to reach in and pull her out in both arms, standing to his feet to lay Jaiden on top of the bed, being careful of her knee.

Jaiden let out some more pitiful, soft cries as she was lifted up and set on the bed. Luke could feel her tiny body tense up in his arms.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Luke went back out to the kitchen, grabbing a dish towel. He wet the towel under the faucet before folding it and warming it in the microwave for a few seconds. Bringing it back, Luke sat on the edge of the bed and carefully laid it across her knee, firmly holding it there while repeatedly switching around her whole knee, including underneath. "How's that feel? Okay?"

Jaiden was propping herself up on her hands, watching what he was doing. Even through the warm towel and with the cramp, Luke could feel her whole body still tensed.

"You gotta relax, sweetie. The muscles in your leg are tight from sleeping like that all night." Luke ended up singing to help her, relax while gently massaging her knee. "I'm not doing this to hurt you. It's to relax your leg." Guilt rose inside of him, having to do this when it shouldn't have. He couldn't help think something like this could be possibly re-living horrible nightmares for her. But having gotten muscle cramps himself from stress, Luke knew this was what one was supposed to do. "It's alright, sweetie. I'm just trying to help your leg feel better."

The hard part came when they had to start moving her leg, bending and unbending her knee as Luke continued to gently massage it. After a few minutes, Jaiden was able to move her leg without wincing or crying.

"There," Luke took the dish towel away, sitting back. "All better?"

Jaiden lifted her gaze towards him where he gave her a kind smile. She then nodded. "Thank you," she squeaked out, timidly.

"You're welcome, sweetie," he replied. "I get them, too, so I know they're no fun to have." Standing to his feet, Luke told her, he was in the middle of cooking breakfast. "You know, I could use an assistant chef. Would you like to help?"

Her gaze dropped. She stole a quick look before she timidly replied, "Don't know how."

"That's okay. I can teach you if you like."

Jaiden looked away again.

"Well, if you change your mind, I'll be right out there," Luke motioned towards the kitchen. He then left Jaiden alone, returning to where he left everything.

Luke picked up where he left off, making sure to re-stir the batter before pouring the first pancake. While the pancake was cooking, he happened to spot the little girl out of the corner of his right eye, holding onto the wall. She shyly peeked out at him. By the way she was holding the wall, it seemed like Jaiden might float away if she let go.

Glancing down to flip the pancake over so it wouldn't burn, Luke said, "I let little helpers steal the chocolate chips from the bag while the pancakes are cooking." Technically, that only happened because April really did steal chocolate chips when he wasn't looking. Or so she thought. In all honestly, Luke let it slide and just let her think he didn't see it.

The next time Luke looked over at the little girl, she was slowly inching her way towards the kitchen table. Once she was there, Jaiden held onto the back of one of the chairs, still watching him but cautiously this time.

"You can scoot that chair over here so you can stand on it, just make sure you wash your hands first." After a minute, he heard the sound of bare feet making their way over to the sink on the other side of where Luke was standing at the counter. Jaiden tried reaching up to turn on the water, but being smaller than an average eight-year-old, even on her tip toes, she could barely reach. Seeing her struggle and only able to move the handle a half an inch, Luke reached over and lifted it the rest of the way, grabbing the soap while Jaiden wet her hands under the water. "Here, sweetie." Luke squeezed a nickle-sized glob of liquid hand soap into her small palm where she began to lather in both of her hands.

While Jaiden washed her hands, Luke scooped the pancake up using a metal spatula this time, and set it on a nearby plate he got from one of the upper cupboards. He pointed out a dry dish towel hanging on the stove handle she could use to dry her hands. Once her hands were all clean and dry, Jaiden moved the same chair over, stopping to look over at him when the legs made a loud screeching sound.

Luke assured her, "You're okay, sweetie." He went over to lift it in one hand, carrying it over to set right at the counter where Jaiden could climb onto. Picking up the bowl, Luke let Jaiden help pour the next pancake, making it just the right size before setting the bowl back down, warning her to be careful around the hot griddle.

Once they made all the pancakes they could make from the first round of batter, Luke showed Jaiden how to make more, letting her stir, also reminding Jaiden about the chocolate chips. She snacked on one or two but not as much if the others would have. Paul Anka tried begging for some which Luke reminded him of what happened the last time the dog had eaten chocolate, and didn't want a repeat, making sure Jaiden didn't try to sneak some to him.

"Chocolate is like poison to dogs," he explained to her. "It could make them really sick."

Jaiden turned her head towards Paul Anka afterwards and shook it as if she was telling him, no. Eventually, Luke just decided to feed him for Lorelai.

While the pancakes were about done, April was the next one to wake up, heading into the kitchen.

"Morning, Dad," she greeted, going to the fridge to get the carton of orange juice. "Hey, you talked Jaiden into helping you?" Her face filled with hopeful excitement.

Luke reminded his daughter to not make a big deal whenever Jaiden was taking steps out of her shell, not wanting to put any pressure on the kid. The kid did seem relaxed though while she was stirring. Hopefully she was. "Jaiden, can you bring me the carton of eggs from the fridge, please?"

Jaiden climbed down from the chair and made her way over to the fridge, opening the fridge door. While she was looking around the inside, he told her the carton should be a cardboard one, on the middle shelf, making sure to let her know to be careful while pulling them out. Luke was positive the little girl tried to be careful, pulling it out with both hands as he suggested and cradled the carton in her arms as she made her way over. Halfway there, Rory came in, greeting everyone, cheerfully. It scared Jaiden who seemed to be concentrating hard, spooking her out of her skin and causing her to drop the carton onto the hardwood floor.

Jaiden immediately flinched backwards, going stiff once more.

Luke set the spatula on the counter next to the griddle, to kneel on the floor. He picked up the egg carton, opening it up to see if any eggs survived. A few did on one side. "It's alright, sweetie. Not all of them broke. No harm done," he assured her. "You're not in any trouble."

She still continued to stand there, her chin pinned to her chest, catatonic.

Watching her stand there, stiff as a board, tore at his heart.

"Sorry, Luke," he heard Rory apologize, sincerely. "Sorry, Jaiden."

"I know you are, Rory." Luke assured both of them, no one was at fault and sang another verse to help Jaiden relax.

After a few minutes, Jaiden lifted her head and in a timid, pitiful tone asked, "Can I still help?"

Luke smiled hearing she still wanted to help him. "Of course, sweetie." Keeping her eyes on the floor, stealing a look or two at him, Jaiden made her way over to her chair and climbed back onto it, though she definitely seemed tense now. While Luke and Jaiden picked up where they left off, Rory poured herself a cup of coffee, sitting at the table to chat with April, seeming like they were also picking up where they left off. No doubt the girls probably stayed up a little bit last night, talking. Once the food was all done, Luke made each of them a plate, handing it over to Jaiden to take to the table. Rory volunteered to go wake her mom.

Lowering himself to her level, Luke told Jaiden, "Thank you for helping me, sweetie. You are the best helper I ever had." He smiled when a small smile slowly appeared on her face. "Go sit down and I'll pour ya some milk to go with your pancakes. Luke stood up, dismissing Jaiden to go sit at the table while he got her a glass of milk. He also brought the syrup over, pouring some over her pancakes.

"Thank you," she squeaked softly once Luke stopped pouring the syrup.

"You're welcome, sweetie."

April was grabbing a couple pieces of bacon, setting them on her plate. She offered Jaiden a piece, holding it towards the little girl. "Bacon?"

Jaiden hesitated at first before taking it from the older girl.

Rory returned with Lorelai, who headed straight for the coffee, pouring herself a cup. Like Rory, Lorelai told them, good morning as well while pouring. Luke wandered over, carrying her plate, handing it to Lorelai once she set the pot back into its place. He kissed her good morning in the process. With everyone there and awake, the clan sat down to eat. With the plate of bacon being passed around, constantly, April took it upon herself to make sure Jaiden had her fill, looking out for the kid.

During the breakfast conversation, Luke informed Lorelai about Jaiden's leg cramp wake-up, letting her know he took care of it, as well as let her know Paul Anka was fed, though the dog still got his share of bacon. It was Lorelai who noticed Jaiden was avoiding eye contact with her. It didn't seem like she was angry with her. It seemed more along the lines of out of fear from the night before.

"So," Lorelai finally said as they finished breakfast. "With it being spring break, the inn's gonna be busy, so I'm gonna have to go in this morning."

"Which means the diner's gonna be packed, too," Luke pointed out.

April asked, confused, "So?"

"We're trying to figure out where Jaiden will have to go with," Lorelai explained. "Luke and I switch off, taking time from work to stay home with her."

"I can take Jaiden with me and she can hang out upstairs," Luke suggested. "Might be better than having her sit in your office all day."

"You know, April and I were gonna go the bookstore, today. Jaiden can come with us if she wants," Rory offered which April agreed.

"Are you sure?" Lorelai asked.

"Yeah. It'll be a girl's day out." Rory turned her head in Jaiden's direction, who was eating the slowest of the clan. "Want to come to the bookstore with April and me, Jaiden? I can even buy you any book you want."

Jaiden stared at her plate of half eaten food, not saying a word.

"Afterwards, we're gonna go get our nails done," April added.

"Yeah, you can get your nails painted," Rory told her.

It was Luke who noticed Jaiden was looking a little tensed. "Alright, you two. I don't think Jaiden's up for all that fun yet." He turned back to Jaiden to ask, "Would you like to come with me to the diner and hang out upstairs in my apartment, sweetie?"

Jaiden still did not answer.

"You can't stay home this time. Me and Lorelai have to go to work. So, you can either go with Rory and April, or come with me." Luke also added, "or go with Lorelai to the inn."

Finally, she lifted her head, looking over at Rory before pointing at her.

"You want to come with me and April?" she asked.

Jaiden gave a timid nod.

Rory gave an excited but soft cheer, careful not to scare the little girl this time.

"I need you both to keep an eye out for her," Lorelai told both her daughter and step daughter. "We haven't given Jaiden a real tour of the town yet. She doesn't know her way around and hasn't met everyone either."

"We will," Rory assured her mom.

"And call us if anything happens." Lorelai then added, "Jaiden has an appointment this afternoon, so I can meet you guys at Luke's around 3:30."

"Appointment for what?" April asked, curious.

"She meets with a therapist every Monday."

Rory turned back to Jaiden, who was nibbling on another piece of bacon April had passed to her. "Do you like your therapist, Jaiden?"

Jaiden stared at nothing towards the table.

"You can be honest, sweetie," Luke assured her. "You won't be in trouble either way."

Finally, she slowly shook her head but did not lift her gaze.

"How come?" Rory asked, curious. Jaiden never answered.

Since Luke and Jaiden cooked, Rory and April volunteered to do the dishes while Lorelai went back upstairs to get ready for work. Luke suggested Jaiden go get dressed and brush her teeth while the other girls work on the dishes. Once the little girl was dressed and brushed her teeth, she went out to play with her hockey set to practice what she learned.

When Lorelai was ready for work, she kissed Luke good-bye and let the girls know she was leaving. Coming out onto the porch, that's when Lorelai found Jaiden out there, hitting a ball into one of the goal nets. A part of her wanted to call out to Jaiden, wanting to have a word before she left for work. Another part of her wanted to leave it be for now and give the kid some space. Lorelai wasn't sure which one was right for this moment. In the end, she decided to wait until later while on the way to her appointment.

Not too long after Lorelai left, Luke left as well, letting all three girls know and reminded Rory and April to watch out for Jaiden. The girls assured, Jaiden was in good hands. He told Jaiden they would be in charge, assuring her, she would be safe with them. He was hoping things would be fine, not wanting to put either Rory or April in a hard position. That's why he was nervous about letting the girls take her for the day. But Jaiden seemed fine at school. So far, anyway.

He headed for the diner with the girls heavily on his mind. All morning he thought about them. There wasn't a phone call so that was a good sign at least. Like Luke though, Lorelai also had the girls on her mind, particularly Jaiden.

Knowing Jaiden helped Luke with breakfast, willingly, but couldn't meet her eye, made Lorelai feel badly about last night. She knew things would be hard in the beginning. She knew it would be a uphill battle. But the weight on her heart, knowing Jaiden was hurting, just got to her. However, Lorelai remembered about what Luke had said about having one of their girls connect with him like she had Rory and, to a certain degree, April. Seeing Jaiden bond with Luke was a good thing, especially when they had to help show her, not all men were horrible monsters.

Sookie had noticed her best friend seemed a little off. "You okay?" she asked when Lorelai came into the kitchen for another cup of coffee.

Lorelai poured herself a cup, setting the coffee pot back into place before taking a drink. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, is all."

"You want to talk about it?" Sookie continued to push, knowing her, well.

She messed with her hair as she stared at the floor. Lorelai tried to brush it off but Sookie refused to admit that it was nothing if Lorelai seemed out of it. "Jaiden freaked out last night when I told her we loved her." She then went on to explain what had happened. "She couldn't even look at me, this morning."

"Well, that's probably the first time she's heard someone say that to her," Sookie guessed. "Every kid wants to feel like they are loved even if they say they don't. And when a parent denies them of that, they probably feel worthless and rejected. So when you finally said it, a lot of emotions probably happened all at once, and Jaiden didn't know how to process everything. It sounds like maybe at some point she tried to tell her mom she loved her and her mom reacted the opposite from what she hoped she would. Maybe that's even where Jaiden heard those awful words."

Lorelai stared at nothing. The words Jaiden yelled still rang loud and clear in her head.

"My advice would be not to say it. At least not right now. Instead, show her you love her. After all, actions speak louder than words, right?"

Lorelai had taken another drink of her coffee. She swallowed before she said, "Yeah, they do. I just want Jaiden to feel loved in our home."

"Then show her you do. From what you said, Luke seems to be on the right track. Playing hockey with her and letting her help with breakfast. Do things she wants to do. Keep getting her involved in things. Take Luke's stick and pass the puck with her. Even if you suck at it, Jaiden will see you're trying. I've never been athletic, and Davey loves it when we play catch and Martha's starting to get interested in soccer. Kids love it when we attempt sports to play with them even if we're not any good at it. Ask Jaiden if you can play with her. Don't leave sports up to just Luke. Maybe even let her teach you what he taught her. It'll help boost her confidence if you let her teach you."

Lorelai nodded. "I guess I could try that," she shrugged.

"Just don't let it get ya down. It'll get easier, I'm sure," Sookie assured her. "And later, you'll both look back and Jaiden will know how much you love her."

That made her smile that time. Lorelai still couldn't help worry about it but knew what Sookie was saying. What they all were saying. Actions did speak louder than words. Words could be empty promises to some. Sometimes, proving by one's actions was a lot better proof then just saying it out loud.

"I think it's wonderful you and Luke decided to go through with adopting a foster kid. Jaiden's gonna love you guys back very soon, I just know it."

Lorelai nodded. "Thanks, Sookie."

"What are friends for?"

She smiled at that. "Yeah." While they were taking the classes, the instructor in charge did say having a great support team was a good asset to have when going through the whole adoption process. Lorelai did feel a little better, now. Hopefully Jaiden was having a good time with Rory and April.

* * *

 _ **Happy Thanksgiving to my readers in the U.S. Hope you had a great day with loved ones! I'm thankful for each and every one of you. Thanks for reading and following along. :)**_

 _ **Hope to have the next chapter for "A Father's Love" out soon!**_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The girls beat Lorelai to Luke's first, around 3:30 as promised. Thankfully, there was no problems for any of the girls, however Jaiden didn't seem to enjoy the bookstore as much as Rory and April did. They had taken turns reading to her but Jaiden didn't seem at all interested. She did a little when she found some _Go Diego Go_ story books. Eventually the girls finally came to the conclusion Jaiden just wasn't a reader like they were.

Luke was glad to hear things went well for the girls. April showed off her freshly painted nails to him, proudly. "You paint your nails, sweetie?" he asked, turning to Jaiden, who was sitting there quietly as she held her head on her folded arms covering the side with her scar.

"Jaiden didn't want to get her nails painted, " Rory explained to him. "So when we went to the movies, we let Jaiden pick what we watched."

"What did you see?"

"We watched the _Hannah Montana_ movie," April blurted out in an annoyed tone. "It was torture, to say the least."

"It wasn't that bad," Rory told her. Turning back to Luke, she said, "it was...something. Not something I'd pick, but Jaiden seemed to enjoy it which was what mattered." Rory turned to April when she mentioned that last part.

"You still owe me," April reminded her. "But yeah, at least someone got enjoyment out of it so it wasn't a total waste of time, I guess." The teenaged girl looked over at the younger girl to smile for her. Jaiden glanced up at her.

The girls ordered their food. Jaiden took the longest as Luke was going down the list of food he could make for her, one by one so she could nod or shake her head. She ended up choosing chicken fingers and onion rings with a glass of milk. It was becoming apparent Jaiden didn't like soda very much either, but loved milk as she always wanted it.

Lorelai came in as Luke headed to the kitchen to give Caesar the order. Already knowing what she wanted to drink, he brought the girls' drinks to the table first, kissing Lorelai in the process.

While the food was cooking, Rory and April filled Lorelai in as they did with Luke, who was also glad there wasn't any problems. After they ate, both Lorelai and Jaiden left to head for Hartford where Erica's office was.

Right before getting on the highway, Lorelai finally assured Jaiden, she wasn't upset about what happened last night, nor was Jaiden in trouble with her and that Lorelai didn't mean to upset her either. She saw her glance over at her, through the rearview mirror but returned to staring out her window. At that moment, though, Lorelai's phone rang. Digging it out of her purse sitting on the front seat while keeping an eye on the road, Lorelai looked to see who was calling. The screen said Celia was calling. Lorelai flipped the phone open with her thumb to press talk and put it to her ear.

"Hey," she greeted into the phone.

"Hello, Lorelai," she returned the greeting. "Listen, I need to fill you in on something that's happening as we speak. Normally we wait these things out before bringing this to the child's attention, but I couldn't help think of what you said when you called me a while back, so I'd figured I should tell you and Jaiden now." Celia sounded a little worried.

"What is it?"

"Remember when I told you Jaiden' grandfather was nowhere to be found?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, we found him and…" Celia took a deep breath, letting it out. "...And he wants custody."

Lorelai stared ahead in horror. "Seriously?"

"I'm afraid so, and unfortunately, blood relatives usually get jurisdiction when it comes to custody of a child." Celia sounded just as disappointed as Lorelai was.

"No, no, no, no, no, no. Celia, you can't do this to us. Luke alone is making so much progress with her." Lorelai then went on to share what happened last night and this morning, and even mentioned Jaiden spending time with the other girls.

"That is wonderful progress," she stated, impressed.

"Would it be enough to win custody?" Lorelai asked, hopeful.

"I'm afraid not," Celia replied, sadly.

"Well, Celia, what can we do. If he's the one who did that to…"

Celia cut her off, mid sentence. "Hold on, Lorelai. First of all, we don't know for sure if Jaiden really was sexually abused. We can't just go accusing someone without any proof."

She shrugged, "How can we show proof if it happened years ago?"

"The closest we have is either Jaiden herself tells us or something pops up in the background check I had to put in for him. So maybe let Erica know and she can work through this with Jaiden," Celia suggested.

Lorelai let out a breath of air. "I'm gonna be honest with you, I'm probably not gonna say anything to her. Jaiden actually admitted this morning when my daughter asked if she liked Erica and Jaiden shook her when Luke assured her, she could be honest without getting in trouble." She glanced through both her side mirror and rearview mirror while turning on her right brinker. "If it's alright with you, Luke and I will sit her down when we get home and talk with her about it. At least with Luke there, he'll be able to calm her down if we have to."

"Um, okay, that's fine. Erica usually calls me on Tuesday to discuss how the sessions go, anyway. So, I'll let her know then."

She smiled. "Celia, have I ever told you how awesome you are?"

Celia chuckled at that. "I actually don't do this for just everybody. Just the ones I like," she said. "You and Luke have been one of the best foster parents I have worked with."

"It's all about Jaiden. That's what's important." Lorelai smiled up at the rearview mirror at the kid.

"Yes it is, and I wouldn't worry about having taking a step backwards with her. With the progress all of you have made, I'm sure Jaiden will come around again. She's been through a lot and then some," she assured.

"I know." Lorelai continued to watch Jaiden while keeping most of her attention on the road. They finished up the conversation until finally ending the call. Lorelai placed her phone back inside her purse just as she was coming up on the highway exit. Looking up at Jaiden once more, she told her, "tonight, when we get home, Luke and I need to tell you something. You're not in any trouble, though, I promise. And you're not going anywhere either. Celia's not moving you again. We're gonna try our hardest to make sure that doesn't happen."

Silence followed.

Lorelai waited a few minutes before breaking the silence. "I wish I could say you didn't have to go to this. If it were up to me, I'd let it be up to you if you wanted to go to these appointments." She saw her eyes glance in her direction out of the corner of Jaiden's eyes but they continued staring out the window. For now, Lorelai grew silent, fearing she might be pushing the kid too much by talking to her. As much as she wanted to listen to her usual music, Lorelai turned it to Jaiden's instead. Only this kid could make her do this.

As Lorelai turned the volume up a tad, the country group, Rascal Flats' song, _What Hurts the Most_ was just starting. Out of the corner of her own eye, she caught Jaiden's lips moving a little as the kid was singing along. Since Jaiden sometimes did sing along to herself, Lorelai didn't think much of it and turned back to the road ahead, then a tear running down Jaiden's cheek, across her scar, caught her attention as Jaiden looked like she was crying now. As far as she knew, a song has never made Jaiden cry before. She got the most choked up during the chorus.

Lorelai watched her sing along as she listened to the words herself. Just thinking how many people Jaiden had tried to open to just to have them give up and walk away was heartbreaking. Halfway through the song, Lorelai reached over to dig around in her purse while watching the road until she finally fished out a package of tissues. Holding them on top of the steering wheel, Lorelai pulled out a couple before twisting her arm around the back of her seat.

"Here, sweetheart," she offered the tissues to Jaiden.

Jaiden stared down at them for a minute before she finally reached over and took the tissues from Lorelai's hand. She used them to wipe her face on both sides and dried her eyes with it, as well.

Sometime later, Lorelai pulled into the parking lot of the family counseling center and grabbed a spot underneath one of the overhangs. Shutting off the jeep, she slid out to put her seat down so Jaiden could climb out. Once they were both out of the jeep, Lorelai and Jaiden made their way up to the building, heading inside the main front doors which were two heavy light brown doors. While Lorelai headed up to the front desk to sign Jaiden in, Jaiden had went over to the kid's table where there were coloring books, coloring pages, and blank pieces of paper, along with a ton of crayons scattered everywhere, on the table, on the floor, and some were still in their boxes.

With the staff notified of their arrival, Lorelai made her way over where Jaiden was skimming through one of the coloring books. That was usually what Jaiden did whenever they were there. This time, all of the coloring pages were colored already.

Lorelai kneeled on the other side of the table. "Mind if I color with you, Jaiden?" she asked, remembering what Sookie had said earlier about doing things with her.

Jaiden had finished looking through the coloring book she was skimming through afterwards. She held the book out to the woman, offering it to Lorelai.

"Thanks, sweetheart," Lorelai thanked her, taking the coloring book. She skimmed through the _Lisa Frank_ coloring book. All of the pages of animals were already colored in, whether it was in the lines or scribbled over. They were usually what Jaiden would color, even to try and salvage the scribbled pages. Most that were left were ones of human girls, however, Lorelai ended up coming across a page of a unicorn pony that Jaiden must have missed. Showing it to her, she asked, "there's one of a unicorn you missed. Do you mind if I color it?"

Jaiden looked up from where she was now starting to draw, freehand. She stared at it for a moment before nodding and returning to her drawing. Lorelai made sure she was completely okay which Jaiden nodded once more. So, Lorelai searched around the scattered crayons until she found purple. The two sat in silence, the only thing that was heard was the sound of crayon rubbing against paper.

Now and then, Lorelai would glance over at what Jaiden was drawing. Again, she didn't think much of it until the drawing had become detailed and realized it wasn't just a usual kid's drawing. Lorelai eventually could see very clearly who Jaiden was drawing, recognizing the cartoon boy, Diego and his animal friend, Baby Jaguar. The characters weren't miscolored either. Jaiden was using almost the exact colors as they were on the show. She watched in awe as her mouth hung halfway open.

Finally, Lorelai couldn't hold back. "Jaiden, that is really good. That's Diego, right?"

Jaiden continued coloring but she saw her head nod.

"Did someone teach you how to draw?"

That time, she shook her head as Jaiden continued, not lifting her gaze. So, it looks like the kid had a special talent she was holding back.

Not wanting to make Jaiden feel uncomfortable by being constantly watched, Lorelai continued coloring her own picture. The wait time was about thirty-forty minutes as they were early so Lorelai was able to finish coloring in the unicorn pony, who for some reason was standing on the moon without a spacesuit and somehow wasn't suffocating from the lack of oxygen. Glancing at the back of the page where there was a picture of a dog scribbled over with a blue, green, and brown crayon, Lorelai tore the page out of the book and used an orange crayon to write: _To Jaiden, from Lorelai_ with a red heart next to it.

"Here you go, sweetheart," Lorelai passed it to Jaiden, setting it beside her own drawing. "I colored this for you."

Jaiden stopped coloring that time to look over at the coloring page of the unicorn pony. She stared at it for a long time before finally glancing over at Lorelai, trying to hold her gaze. It kept dropping though, but she managed to squeak out, "thank you." Her eyes and the fact Jaiden was sucking in her lip seemed like she was fighting back some more tears.

Lorelai smiled kindly at her. "You're welcome, sweetheart." At that moment, the door opened. Erica came out with another little girl, a few years older than Jaiden, and whom Lorelai guessed to be her mom as they resembled one another. Once they were done, the mother went over to the front desk to sign out. That's when Erica acknowledged their presence and greeted both Lorelai and Jaiden. A particular form of interest to Lorelai was when they stood up, Jaiden not only took her own picture she drew but Lorelai's as well. Her heart practically leaped for hopeful joy as they headed through the door, making their way down the hallway to Erica's office.

Both Lorelai and Jaiden sat on the couch with some space apart while Erica sat in her office chair, facing them and pushed away from her desk. She was still close enough to lean over to make notes as they talked.

"So, how have things been the past week?" Erica started with.

"Good," Lorelai nodded. "Last Friday was parent-teacher conferences, so Luke and I got to meet with her teacher."

Erica made a note of that. "And how is Jaiden doing in school?" she asked afterwards, looking up from her notes.

"Well, Jaiden's still meeting one on one to catch up with her peers, but slowly but surely she's getting there. Math and reading are a bit of a struggle still, but she was able to move up to easy reader chapter books. Though Jaiden doesn't seem to be interested in reading, at least not as much as our other girls." Lorelai was looking in Jaiden's direction as she spoke before looking over at Erica, who was jotting that down.

"Is she still playing hockey with your husband?"

"Sometimes," she answered. "In fact, I was thinking I might give it a try with her. Let her show me what she's learned so far." Lorelai smiled over at Jaiden, hoping to get some kind of response. She looked back at Erica to add, "Luke was actually pointing out the other day of the idea of getting Jaiden on a team with other kids, especially since it's part of her case plan to get her on a sports team."

Erica shook her head. "Hockey's too dangerous, and causes too many fights. With Jaiden lashing out at others, we can't take those risks."

"But if hockey is her favorite sport…"

She continued to shake her head. "The answer is no. Gabrielle said she's looking into a little league since that's not really a contact sport. Or possibly volleyball. She'll let us know at the meeting on Friday." Turning to Jaiden, Erica asked, "any of those sound good to you, Jaiden?"

Jaiden sat, slouched a little, in her seat, staring at her drawing.

Lorelai watched Jaiden for a moment. Finally, she asked, "Do you want to play baseball or volleyball, sweetheart?" Lorelai noticed her body tense up and assured her it was okay to say no. That was when Erica spoke up.

"As of right now, those are the only approved sports she can play. It's great Jaiden found something she enjoys but it's something we can't allow her to play."

"That's not really fair to Jaiden," she pointed out.

She shrugged her hands out as Erica was leaning on the arm of her chair. "It's not really fair to other children when Jaiden lashes out at them," Erica responded, calmly, leaning back in her chair.

"But since Jaiden's been living with us, there hasn't really been any problems like that." Lorelai paused when she realized the outburst from last night she had forgotten about for a split second. "At least not with other kids," she quickly added.

That last part alerted Erica's attention. "What do you mean, 'at least not with other kids.'"

Hesitating at first, Lorelai took a deep breath before admitting what happened which Erica made notes about it, too.

"So, my point exactly that the outbursts are still going on," she nodded.

"Yes, but…"

"Listen, I'm not saying Jaiden can never play hockey. Maybe down the road, we'll look into it. But for right now, it's simply out of the question."

Lorelai stared up at the ceiling with just her eyes, tilting her head back just a tad, letting out a slight huff through her nostrils. "What if Jaiden doesn't want to play either baseball or volleyball? Can we consider another extra curricular? I just noticed out there while we were waiting that Jaiden is excellent at drawing. I mean, really good. I can't even draw anywhere near that good. Can we look into drawing or art classes for her?"

Her eyebrows rose in interest. "So, Jaiden, you're drawing again?" She looked over at the little girl.

Jaiden didn't show any kind of response.

"Wait, she stopped drawing at one point?"

"A year ago, I had her draw me something. Anything she wanted." Erica sat up to pull her chair closer to her desk and began looking through Jaiden's file until she pulled out what she was looking for. Erica then held it out for Lorelai to see.

Lorelai reached out to take a drawing of what looked like an action hero leaping to the side, shooting two guns in both hands while wearing dark sunglasses, colored in crayon. "I don't understand," she shrugged, looking up at Erica.

"You don't see anything wrong?" she asked, leaning an elbow on the arm of her chair again.

Lorelai shook her head. "No. It looks really good, especially for a seven-year-old to draw."

"Exactly. A seven-year-old."

Lorelai had never been so confused before in her life. She shrugged, shaking her head again.

"We found it concerning that Jaiden would draw a man shooting, not one, but two guns. Something that kills people."

"Are you serious?" Lorelai questioned in disbelief. "What if he's shooting a bad guy? It's okay for an action hero to shoot a bad guy."

Erica remained unmoved. "No guns, period." She then went on to add, "Since reevaluating her, Jaiden hasn't drawn anything since."

"Yeah, because you made her afraid to. Not everything needs to be evaluated. So, Jaiden must like action movies. Big deal. It doesn't mean she'll steal a gun and shoot someone with it. Not if you teach her the difference between reality and movies." No wonder Jaiden doesn't like Erica and having to come here. Hopefully, it's not the reason she watches preschool cartoons because she knows it's what they would approve of.

"When she is showing the same signs as her mother, yes it is concerning, and even so, children do not need to be watching action movies with that kind of violence. They have ratings for a reason."

By this point, Lorelai knew it was futile to argue with this woman and just dropped the matter. They moved on, still keeping the focus on Jaiden and how she was doing. Erica did seem impressed by the progress Luke was making, alone with her. It had been a long time since a foster parent had gotten Jaiden to help out in the kitchen, and was very proud of her.

Halfway through the session, Lorelai stood up to leave so Erica and Jaiden could be alone. As she stood, Lorelai suddenly felt a small hand grab onto her arm, keep her from leaving. She looked back to see Jaiden giving her a pleading look, like Jaiden didn't want her to leave.

Lowering herself back down, Lorelai asked, "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Still holding her grip, Jaiden just continued to stare up at her.

"You don't want me to leave?"

That time, Jaiden shook her head, in a timid manner.

Lorelai looked over at Erica. "Is it okay if I stay?"

"If that's what Jaiden wants," she replied and made another note. "Usually, the last half of the session is quiet. I'll try to ask how she is or how she's feeling, but usually I don't get any responses." For the most part that was how the rest of that week's session went. Occasionally, Lorelai would say something. She reminded Erica of her suggestion to get Jaiden into an art or drawing class. Erica made a note of it and said, they'll bring it up during the meeting. When the hour was finally up, she walked the both of them out, assuring them she will see them on Friday.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Rory and April were home when Lorelai and Jaiden pulled into the driveway. As soon as Jaiden climbed out of the jeep, she made her way over to her treehouse and stayed up there. Luke got home around seven and got started on dinner. As he got everything out and on the counter, Luke got an idea and went in search of Lorelai, who was upstairs folding laundry with Rory.

"Hey, where's Jaiden?" he asked, sticking his head in the doorway.

"Last I saw of her, she was up in her treehouse," Lorelai answered, folding a pair of her pants.

"Okay. Thanks." Luke was about to turn and leave when Lorelai suddenly called out to stop him. He turned back to ask, "yeah?"

"Hold up a sec." Turning to Rory, she asked if her and Luke could have a moment alone to talk about a few things that had to do with Jaiden. Rory knew the grandfather was back, but they couldn't really talk about it. It was difficult for mother and daughter not being able to share much in regards to Jaiden, especially when Lorelai told Rory almost everything. Rory understood though and was supportive.

"Sure," Rory replied. She finished folding the shirt in her hands, placing it on one of the stacks of clothes before getting up. Luke moved to the side, inside the room to let her pass and closed the door behind her.

Luke moved closer to the bed, placing both hands on his sides, pushing the bottom of his shirt out of the way in the process. "What's up?"

"Celia called today. On the way to Jaiden's appointment," she told him.

He could sense there was bad news by the tone in her voice. Luke swallowed before he asked, "bad news?"

"Apparently, they finally found her grandfather."

Luke perked up, his heart starting to race, anxiously. "And?"

"He wants Jaiden."

His heart basically stopped. "W-what?"

She nodded. "Celia says they normally don't say anything this soon. She just put in the background check, actually. But she worried what I told her could be true so she went ahead and filled us in now. I told her we'd sit Jaiden down tonight to tell her in case you need to calm her down."

Luke walked across the room, holding his face in his hands. He pressed his palms against his closed eyes. This could not be happening. He suddenly lifted his head to look back at her when Lorelai asked if he was alright. "I swear, if it was him…" He punched a fist into his other hand, gritting his teeth.

"Okay, hold up there," she held up a hand. "You're not going to kill him."

"Why not?" he questioned.

"Because, regardless if the guy deserves it or not. I don't want you to wind up going to prison and me having to raise another kid as a single mother again. I mean, I'll do it but don't you think after everything Jaiden's been through, she doesn't deserve an adopted father in prison?" Not to mention having to lose Luke again would be hard on Lorelai, as well. It took them this long to get to this point where they were a family. She didn't want to go through that again.

Luke let out a breath of air. He knew Lorelai was right, but what he wouldn't give, to be able to get his hands on the grandfather or whoever the perpetrator was. Rubbing the back of his head, over his hat, he asked, "So where does that lead us? Does that mean we may…" Luke swallowed some more before he finished his question. "Are we gonna lose her?"

Lorelai was still folding the clothes. "There's a possibility. Blood relatives get top priority over a child."

"But where the hell has he been this whole time?" he demanded.

She shrugged. "Beats me. Celia says Jaiden hasn't seen him since she was younger. Before she was taken from her mother and placed into foster care, actually."

Luke's hands returned to his sides as he stared at the floor. Why does stuff like this always happen to them. Just when things seem to be going right, something seems to sideswipe them.

"Celia says if a red flag comes up in his background check or if Jaiden says he did anything to her, then we might be able to keep him from getting custody of her." But Luke just stood there, staring at the floor. "Luke? Luke, did you hear me?"

His eyes closed as Luke continued to stare at the floor.

"Luke?"

"We can't lose her, Lorelai," he softly replied. It seemed like this was scaring Luke more than it was scaring her. It was clear Luke was already attached and loved this little girl too much to have her taken from them.

"We won't, Luke. I promise we won't." Things were quiet afterwards. As he stood there staring at the floor, Lorelai swore he would lose it right then and there, and this man was not a crier. She was sure Luke did not even have tear ducts. But for a split second…

While Lorelai finished folding the rest of the laundry, Luke went outside to ask Jaiden if she could come inside so they could talk, calling up to her treehouse. There was a brief pause before the latch door opened and Luke motioned with his head for her to come down. He made sure Jaiden climbed down safely before they headed inside.

Jaiden sat on the couch while Lorelai sat beside her with some space between them. Luke sat across from them on the edge of the coffee table he had pushed back so he wasn't too close to her. Sharing a look with each other, Lorelai was the one to start.

"Sweetheart, remember I said Celia called on our way to your appointment?"

Jaiden was holding onto her stuffed dog, staring at the floor.

"She was calling because they…" She had to exchange another look with Luke. Both of them were embracing themselves to whatever reaction Jaiden gave upon receiving the news. "They found your grandfather. She sa…" Jaiden's head shot up, over at Lorelai. The next thing they knew, she was scooting backwards into the corner of the couch as far back as she possibly could go and still tried to keep going. The look in her eye said it all.

Stealing a knowing look with Lorelai, Luke dropped on one knee, reaching out for Jaiden. "Jaiden, Jaiden. It's alright. Listen," he made sure to make eye contact, lowering his head to do so. "Listen, sweetie," Luke held his arms on the couch. Jaiden had stopped but looked like a scared animal caught in a trap. "If you don't want to go live with your grandfather, we will do everything in our power to make sure that does not happen. Okay?"

Her chest was moving, rapidly as Jaiden was squeezing the stuffing out of her dog.

"Did he...did he hurt you, sweetie?"

Jaiden was frozen to the spot, not answering at all which wasn't good. A reaction wasn't good enough even if it was a fearful reaction. She had to confirm it.

"Sweetheart, we can't help you unless you tell us," Lorelai told her.

They saw her mouth open but no words came. Instead, she shook her head, timidly.

They exchanged another look between each other.

"No, he didn't hurt you?"

Jaiden quickly shook her head.

"Are you sure, sweetie?" Luke asked her, thoroughly not convinced Jaiden was telling the truth. After all, kids can try to protect the perpetrator if they thought they'd be in trouble or if the perpetrator made them keep it a secret, or thinking it was their fault it happened.

"Sweetheart, you have to tell us the truth or we can't help you," Lorelai tried to insist but Jaiden just kept shaking her head. It was clear she wasn't telling the truth. But Luke stepped in and reminded Lorelai not to push her.

Instead, he turned back to Jaiden to assure her, "If someone did hurt you or touched you in a way that made you feel uncomfortable, please, come let us know. We will do everything in our power to make sure it doesn't happen again." Standing up, Luke had Lorelai do the same to give Jaiden some time, not wanting to push Jaiden any further. They still needed her to be able to fully trust them so Jaiden felt she can talk to them about anything and pushing her into talking to them could make things worse.

Lorelai turned on the TV to _Nick Jr._ where thankfully _Go Diego Go_ was on. It was midway through so it would be over soon but at least hopefully Diego could help for the time being. Paul Anka had come over, leaping up onto the couch. He sat facing the little girl and reached his head over to lick the side of her face. While Paul Anka took over, Lorelai and Luke met in the kitchen to discuss what happened.

"So," Lorelai said, "now what? If Jaiden says no..."

Luke shrugged, "That means her grandfather will win custody."

Holding her elbow in her hand, Lorelai held her eyes in her other hand. Luke wasn't doing any better. The thought of that man getting Jaiden and doing even more damage...he didn't even want to think about it. In fact, a huge lump formed in his throat that was difficult to swallow. Thankfully, though, the reaction alone will help keep Jaiden's team alert, so they had that going. Luke ended up pulling Lorelai in, knowing the both of them needed it.

After about fifteen minutes, Luke went back into the living room. "Jaiden," he got her attention before leaning his arms on the arm of the couch. "Hey, I could use my little assistant again to help with dinner. How about it?"

Jaiden held her gaze up at him.

"You don't have to, sweetie," he assured her. "I just thought since you did such a good job with breakfast this morning, you'd like to help me again. I can show ya how to make spaghetti."

Her lower lip trembled. Like a tiny mouse, Jaiden squeaked out, "I like spaghetti."

Luke smiled. "Yeah? Wanna learn how to make it?"

Timidly, she nodded.

"Come on." He motioned towards the kitchen with his head. Luke noticed Paul Anka was kind of half laying on her, immobilizing Jaiden from being able to get up. So he had the dog move off of her.

First thing they did was make sure to wash their hands. Luke grabbed the hand towel from where it hung on the stove's handle, drying his hands before passing it to Jaiden. While Jaiden dried her hands, he turned the stove on and filled a large pot with water, setting it on the hot burner. Luke had Jaiden pull a chair up again to stand on. When the water was starting to boil, he showed her how to break the noodles in half, letting her take half.

"Careful not to burn yourself," he warned her when her arms got too close to the edge of the pot when she reached her half of the noodles above it. "Hold your thumbs where they almost touch towards the center, and just…" Luke broke his first, snapping the noodles. Asking for her permission first, he helped position her thumbs but let Jaiden break hers and drop them into the water. "Aright. Great job, kiddo," Luke praised, proudly. A slight smile crept onto her face.

Luke lifted the pot an inch off the burner, reminding Jaiden to move back so she wouldn't get burned, and shook it a little so the noodles all went under the boiling hot water.

While the noodles cooked, Luke opened the hamburger meat to move it to a mixing bowl. He asked Jaiden to pour in the seasoning and breadcrumbs, telling her when to stop. While he rolled the meat in his hands to mix the seasoning and breadcrumbs, he nodded his head towards the lower cupboard on Jaiden's left, asking if she could grab a baking sheet from out of there.

Jaiden climbed down from the chair and opened the cupboard, looking inside.

"Should be a flat pan in there, leaning against the side. See it?"

She reached in and pulled out a baking sheet, showing him.

"Yep. Great job. Set it on the counter, there," he nodded towards it and grabbed a can of baking spray, gripping it with his palm, trying not to dirty it with hamburger juice. He carefully removed the cap. "Can you spray the pan with that?"

Jaiden climbed back onto the chair, picking up the can. She looked over at Luke.

"Just spray the whole thing once." He waved his hand to show her, making sure the nozzle was facing the pan. Once all that was done, Luke showed her how to make meatballs. "You ever played with Play-doh?"

She nodded.

"It's sort of like that," he explained and rolled the first meatball, making it the size of a ping pong ball before setting it on the baking sheet. Luke then had Jaiden give it a try, grabbing some for her. "Just roll it around in your hands." Before they started, he had Jaiden move to the other side of the counter, as far away from the stove as possible. They rolled until all of the meat was gone in the bowl and Luke slid it into the oven to bake, setting the timer. They washed their hands afterwards.

Leaning over, Luke held a hand up to her which Jaiden flinched from it. "No, sweetie. I was just gonna ask if I could get a high five for being a great assistant," he assured, gently.

She looked back at him, timidly. Looking at his still raised hand, Jaiden timidly returned the high five.

Luke smiled. "No one's gonna hurt ya, sweetie. Not in this house. That's a guarantee."

Jaiden watched him, who continued to give her a kind smile. Her foot stepped towards him but she suddenly flinched backwards, tensing up.

Luke was at a loss at what just happened. "What's wrong, sweetie?" When she didn't look up, he kneeled to her level to look up at her, moving his head where he could meet her gaze though Luke wasn't sure what to say.

The pot on the stove started boiling over, getting Luke's attention. He stood back up to move over to the stove and tend to it, turning the burner off. "Hey, Jaiden, can you grab me the strainer from in there?" he motioned his head towards the lower cupboard next to the fridge. Luke had to call her name a few times in which the final time made her jump out of her skin. Apologizing for scaring her, he asked again if she could grab him the strainer, explaining it was a bowl with holes. Jaiden moved over to look inside the cupboard, finding the strainer. She showed it to him.

Luke lifted the pot up by both handles. "Yep. Can you set it in the sink for me?" Jaiden took it over and dropped the strainer into the sink, moving out of the way so he could drain the water from the noodles. Once the pot was empty, Luke set it in the other sink and lifted the strainer to shake out the excess water before dumping the noodles back into the pot and took that back over to the stove where he put the burner on low.

Grabbing the jar of spaghetti sauce from the fridge, Luke poured the sauce in and grabbed a mixing spoon from the drawer, letting Jaiden climb up on her chair and stir it while he checked on the meatballs. Those still had a way's to go so Luke turned their attention to the garlic bread, having Jaiden grab him another baking sheet from the same cupboard.

Lorelai came in at that point. "Yum, what smells so good in here?" she asked as Lorelai sniffed at the air.

Having found another baking sheet, Jaiden had stood up and automatically replied with, "Spaghetti." She then turned red in the face, dropping her gaze towards the floor.

Luke very carefully reached for the baking sheet, taking it from her.

"Yum, sounds delicious," Lorelai went along with it, trying to make Jaiden feel better. "Spaghetti's my favorite."

Jaiden lifted her gaze at that, slowly.

Lorelai smiled for her. "You helping Luke again, sweetheart?"

She nodded, timidly.

Leaving the two to finish cooking, Lorelai made her way over to feed Paul Anka, his food. "We're going to dinner, tomorrow, right? For April's birthday?" she asked, making conversation while she prepared Paul Anka's dinner.

"Yep." Luke and Jaiden laid the garlic bread out on the cooking sheet.

"Has she picked a place yet?"

"Not that I know of. Did you get a gift?" he asked this time. Lorelai was so much better at buying gifts than he was.

"Yes, I did."

Luke nodded.

Once the garlic bread was laid out, Luke set the baking sheet into the oven on the top rack above the meatballs, and checked on those in the process. After Paul Anka was fed, Lorelai set the table while dinner was finishing up. To everyone's surprise, Jaiden ended up wanting to sit next to Luke. Rory pointed out how cute that was, sitting on her other side.

Luke made everyone's plates. He had come to learn how much Jaiden eats of her food and just started giving her smaller portions. Only, this time she ended up asking for seconds.

"Hey, Jaiden," Rory grabbed her attention. "You think I can have my room back, tonight? Are you okay with sleeping in your room with April?"

Relief washed over them when Jaiden nodded which Rory thanked her for.

After dinner, Jaiden went to take a shower and change into her pajamas while Lorelai worked on the dishes since Rory and April washed the breakfast dishes. April showered after her. When Luke came to check on them, ready for bed, himself, April was attempting to have a conversation with Jaiden, who was already in bed, under the covers. Her Diego action figure was in her hand and her dog wrapped in her other arm. Jaiden was facing April, laying on her side while she went on about something April had read about recently.

"April, sweetie," Luke said with a smirk, "you're confusing the poor kid." He made his way into the room, stopping in between the beds, placing his hands on his sides.

April looked to her dad, over to Jaiden, who was watching her with a puzzled expression, and back to her dad. "Oh," she said and turned back to Jaiden. "Sorry about that. I can explain it in simpler terms if you like."

"How about for now, you let Jaiden sleep?" Luke suggested. "You know, since it is bedtime."

"Right," April nodded. "We can talk more about it tomorrow." Luke happened to look over and swore Jaiden was giving him a look that said, "help me." He gave her a look that said he knew how she felt, having one's ear talked off and not knowing what April was talking about.  
"Just nod, sweetie. That's what I do," Luke advised Jaiden receiving a "hey!" from April. He just snickered which she gave him a mock glare.

April got under the covers and laid back on her pillows.

Leaning over, Luke kissed his daughter good night on the forehead.

"Good night, Dad," she told him.

"Good night, April. Love ya," he replied as Luke stood up which she told him right back. As he made his way towards the door, Luke waved towards Jaiden. "Good night, Jaiden. Love you too." Jaiden watched him walk across the room. He switched off the light right as Paul Anka rushed in and jumped onto Jaiden's bed, curling up next to her.

Even with April there, in the other bed, Jaiden still cried out in her sleep, bringing Luke in. Her cries practically scared April out of a sound sleep, pretty much giving her a heart attack. While Luke tended to Jaiden, Lorelai made sure she was alright. Both of them held onto Paul Anka, petting him as they watched Luke try and wake the little girl and calm her down.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The following day, Luke took the whole day off to spend some with April, letting her be in charge of what they do. It mostly involved seeing a movie and walking around the mall which Luke tried to remind her how much he hated malls. But it was his daughter's day and if walking around the mall was what she wanted to do then he'll suck it up for her.

The two also grabbed lunch from the food court. April went on about how she loved the movie they watched, way better than the kid/tween movie she saw with Rory and Jaiden, in her opinion.

"Speaking of," Luke said, taking a drink of his Coke to wash down his burger. "What do you think? Of Jaiden, I mean?"

April shrugged. "She's cool," she replied. "Kind of disappointed she's not into books like Rory and I are, nor does she seem interested in anything girly, but Jaiden seems like she'll be a pretty awesome little sister."

"Give it time. She's eight. Maybe Jaiden'll be into girl stuff when she's older."

"I was into girl stuff as soon as I could walk," April pointed out.

Luke gave a shrug. "Lorelai says some girls can go through a tomboy phase when they're little. Maybe that's what Jaiden's going through." He munched on some fries while they talked before taking another bite of his burger.

"I guess."

"Besides, you still have your cousin," he said.

"Oh yeah. Is Doula and Aunt Liz coming with us tonight?" she asked when Luke reminded her of her cousin.

"They said they was."

"Good, because I can't wait to see how big Doula's getting." April seemed to perk up now.

At that moment, Luke's phone rang. Setting his burger down and brushing his hands off against each other, he pulled it out of the pocket of his jeans, checking the screen to see who it was. Rory's name was there which made him slightly worry something was wrong at home.

"What's up, Rory?" Luke asked when he answered.

"Hey, Jaiden wants to play hockey outside but she only has one hockey stick. Would you mind if I used yours?"

"Sure, that's fine. It's in the garage." Luke relaxed when he heard it wasn't anything bad. "But listen, if anything happens to my stick, you're paying for it," he warned her.

Rory gasped. "Luke…"

Luke immediately stopped her right there, knowing where this was going. "Yes, dirty, I know," he told her, catching Rory snicker. "You are your mother's daughter, I hope you know that."

"I know," she snickered some more before thanking him.

"You're welcome. Hey, everything okay so far?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything's great. We watched cartoons all morning. I made mac and cheese for lunch, now Jaiden's gonna show me how to play hockey."

"That's good," he said in relief. "Well, have fun. I taught her everything she knows about the sport."

"Then I'm sure she'll be a good teacher. How's things going with you and April?"

"Good, good. We saw a movie, some sappy chick flick. Then we walked around the mall, and now we're having lunch."

"Hm, sounds like fun."

"Oh, loads," Luke nodded with a hint of sarcasm. But it didn't matter if he had fun, it was if April had fun was what mattered.

Eventually, Luke and Rory ended the call so Luke could finish eating. Afterwards, he and April left the mall and made a visit to the planetarium for a few hours.

Later, that afternoon, Lorelai was the first to get home, pulling up while Rory and Jaiden were still playing. She walked over to see her daughter was out of breath.

"Having fun?" she asked with a smile.

Rory stopped to look over at her mom, now able to catch her breath. "Man, I forgot how much energy a kid can have," she stated in between breaths. "This kid's been beating me all afternoon and hasn't shown any sign of stopping." Rory was leaning on the wooden hockey stick with both hands.

Lorelai smiled between the girls, stopping on Jaiden, who was standing back a little way's. "You having fun, sweetheart?"

Jaiden nodded, timidly.

Not the active type, Rory looked like she might pass out. If someone were to take away the stick she was leaning on, Rory would probably fall to the ground.

"Can I hop in and give Rory here a break?" Lorelai asked Jaiden. "Would that be okay?"

Jaiden hesitated, looking between the ladies. After a few seconds, she nodded in Lorelai's direction.

"Let me go get changed into something more casual and the two of you can get some water," she suggested. Leaving the hockey sticks outside, the girls headed inside. Lorelai headed upstairs to her room while the other two got some water from the water cooler. When she was changed into more comfortable clothes, they headed back outside. "So what do we do? Just hit the ball into the net there?"

Jaiden held her hockey stick up the way Luke had showed her. When Lorelai wasn't getting what she was trying to convey, she timidly moved closer. Jaiden pointed to Lorelai's right hand then pointed to the middle of the stick.

"Put my hand here?" Lorelai asked.

She nodded up at her and showed Lorelai once more. This time, Lorelai understood what she meant.

Next, Jaiden lined up her shot and hit the ball into the net, snapping it. She pointed at another ball, lining that up with her stick before stepping out the way so Lorelai could take a turn. Lorelai lined up with the ball. However, instead of shooting into the net, it soared over into the air and into Babette's yard.

Lorelai looked over at Jaiden. "Is that a point?"

Jaiden shook her head, slowly.

The noise had brought Babette out, wondering what that noise was. Thankfully, the ball didn't hit any of her lawn gnomes so all was good and the older lady tossed the ball back over to them.

"Maybe you should face the other way, sugar!" she called over to them.

"Good idea," Lorelai called back and had the girls help move the net over to the other side of the yard. Things seemed to go move smoothly. That is, until Lorelai hit three balls into the thicket, and Jaiden was afraid of losing the rest. "I'll ask Luke if he could get in there and find them for you," she assured the little girl after the third ball, catching a sad look. "I'm sorry, sweetheart." But the kid didn't respond at all, not even to look at her. Instead, she just picked up what was left of the balls and carried them over to her treehouse. Lorelai looked after her. "Jaiden," she said, sympathetically.

Jaiden stopped at her treehouse to stuff the balls inside her pockets. Holding the stick under her arm, she started climbing. Rory came over from the porch where she had been watching.

"You okay, Mom?"

Both girls continued watching until Jaiden was out of sight. "Yeah," she said, but really it was a lie. Things seem to have been going so well between them. Why was she having so much more trouble than Luke was?

"It'll get better, Mom," Rory reminded her mom, knowing the truth anyway.

Lorelai glanced at the ground. "I know." She tried to force a smile for her daughter. They left Jaiden alone for now and headed inside. Since it was a nice day out, Rory ended up making some lemonade and the two sat on the front porch to chat. It was an hour before Luke pulled up, parking behind Lorelai's jeep. The two got out and walked up to the house, stopping once they got up the steps.

"Hey," they all greeted each other, one by one.

"How was it?" Lorelai asked April.

"Great," she said, cheerfully. "We saw a movie, went to the mall, had lunch, then went to the planetarium where Dad smacked his head on Saturn."

Lorelai and Rory stared over at Luke, both confused and amused.

"How do you hit your head on Saturn?" Rory questioned.

"They hung the damn thing so low where anyone tall enough can run right into it," Luke explained with a wave of his hand. "It was bound to happen sooner or later."

"And of course it happened to you," said Lorelai.

"Yes," he let out a sigh. Changing the subject, Luke asked, "Jaiden in her tree house?" He nodded over in that direction.

"Yeah," Rory answered, glancing over at the tree house. "Mom hit three of her balls into the thicket over there and Jaiden was a little upset about that."

"Do you think you might be able to get to them, Luke?" Lorelai asked.

Luke twisted around to look over on the other side of the driveway. "Depends how far you hit them in there. But sure, I can give it a try." Heading back down the steps, he stopped by the garage first to grab his hedge clippers first.

Luke leaned over to try and peer around at the thicket to see if he could spot anything round and orange. The girls had followed, standing back a little ways to watch.

"Anything?" Lorelai asked, hopeful.

"Uh…" He continued looking until finally spotting one. "Yeah, I see one." Using the clippers, Luke cut enough where he could squeeze through and grab the ball. Even cutting his way through, the branches scrapped against him. Thankfully, his jacket protected him for the most part, letting him grab the ball. Once Luke had it, he stepped back, tossing the ball where Lorelai could catch it. While grabbing the first one, he was able to catch sight of the second ball and made his way back to the same spot where he could cut his way to reach the next one.

Rory caught the ball when Luke tossed that one out. He looked around the thicket, trying to spot the third and final ball. That one was a bit tricky to find, having to come out to find another way in. Luke spent the next few minutes trying to locate the ball, determined to find it. Come find out, that one had gotten hit, further in, making Luke have to go further in. By the time he came back out with ball in hand, his hands and face was cut up, and swore there was something living in there as he tossed it to April.

Lorelai had to take the poor guy inside and treat his scratches, who hissed every time the alcohol-soaked cotton swab touched an open wound. Unlike with Jaiden, she scolded him to stop being a big baby, receiving giggles from their daughters who were sitting at the kitchen table. Once Lorelai was finally finished, Luke headed back outside to let Jaiden know he had gotten her balls for her.

"Jaiden!" he called up to her. "Jaiden, I have your balls that got hit into the thicket!" Relief washed over him when he finally saw the latch open, though, Jaiden didn't come down. Instead, she held her hand down for him to toss up there. "Lorelai didn't mean to hit them in there. She's not good at the sports thing like you and I are. Okay?"

Jaiden just stared down at him.

"Well, uh…" Not sure what else to say, Luke told her he was tossing the first ball up. She managed to catch two out of three. The third one he had to toss up there a second time. Before she could close the latch again, he called up, "Hey, why you come inside and take your shower, early. We're meeting my sister and her family for dinner, for April's birthday." When Jaiden hesitated, Luke added, "Don't worry, you can sit with me if you want. They don't bite or anything and my sister's husband is pretty much a big kid." It ended up taking some coaxing before she finally climbed down and they headed inside the house.

Everyone got ready to leave for the restaurant. Jaiden showered and changed into another long sleeved striped shirt and jeans. Lorelai tried to suggest something a little more nicer, but ended up leaving it alone for now. They had a dinner on Friday with her parents, Jaiden's first actually. So she thought they would wait until then. At least the kid was clean and the shirt choice wasn't really that bad anyway.

When they were ready to leave, they piled into Lorelai's jeep to head to Sniffy's. April let Jaiden have the window and took the middle instead, even though it made more sense to have the youngest and smallest of the three girls to sit in the middle. Though, she did ask, "do we have to listen to country music?"

"For now, yes," Lorelai was the one to reply. "It's Jaiden's preferred choice of music and we want to help her feel right at home with us." She tried to smile over at Jaiden from the corner of the rearview mirror. Jaiden just kept staring out the window. "Right, Jaiden?" No response.

"I'm sure Luke is glad to have someone to share music tastes with," Rory tried lightening the mood.

April caught onto it as well, agreeing with her. Both Luke and Lorelai knew April was just honest when it came to sharing her thoughts, but was still willing help out when it was absolutely necessary. The girls smiled over at Luke who returned it.

The drive was short. Lorelai pulled into the parking lot just as Jess was stepping out of his car, having been invited by Luke since it was a family dinner to celebrate April's birthday. On his side, anyway.

Everyone piled out of the jeep once it was shut off.

"Hey, Jess," Luke greeted as he stepped out. He folded his seat so Jaiden could climb out, holding the seatbelt out of the way for her.

"Hey," he returned. Jess had been leaning against the side of the car with his hands shoved into his pockets. Luke noticed him wave over to Rory and wished his cousin a happy birthday which April thanked him for. He turned back to his uncle when Jaiden had climbed out. Luke shut the door. "This the kid?"

"Yep. This is Jaiden," Luke replied. "Jaiden, I'd like ya to meet Jess. He's my nephew, Liz's kid. Well, grown kid," he quickly added.

Jaiden of course didn't say anything but Jess said, "Hey." She ended up tensing up at the arrival of a newcomer, her chin pinned to her chest. Luke had filled his nephew in on what he could share about Jaiden. "Can we have a second?" Jess asked out of the blue.

Luke was caught off guard. "Huh?"

"I wasn't sure if that's allowed or not. I just want to have a word with her, if that's okay. We'll meet you inside."

"Uh…" Luke turned back to Jaiden, to make sure. "Uh, Jess wants to talk to you, I guess. Is that okay, Jaiden? He won't do anything to you, I promise."

Jess shrugged. "If it'll help, I'll break someone's collarbone if someone tried anything with ya."

"Jess," he told his nephew.

"Just sayin'." He wasn't that fond of kids, but he also wasn't heartless to a kid that's been hurt.

Luke just rolled his eyes. "Just don't take too long. Buddy and Maisy has the large table reserved for us." He left the two alone, however Luke didn't go inside. He did make sure they couldn't see him, or at least Jess. Unfortunately, it also made it impossible for him to hear what was being said. Jess seemed to keep his distance, but then he too preferred to have his own personal space. He also was doing all of the talking. At one point, his head motioned towards where Luke had gone, assuming Jess was possibly talking about him.

Luke watched for a couple minutes before he noticed Jess turn to head towards the restaurant. Though, it didn't seem like Jaiden was moving. After a while, he called over to Luke for help, knowing full well he didn't go inside. Making his way back over, Luke helped get Jaiden's attention.

"What did you tell her?" Luke couldn't help ask with curiosity.

"Just a few words to help out. No biggie," Jess just shrugged it off and left it at that. He at least assured his uncle it wasn't anything bad. It was a relief to know more of their family was on board with helping Jaiden feel welcomed. Though, truthfully, Luke wasn't expecting it to come from Jess of all people but glad, nonetheless.

The three headed inside the restaurant where everyone was waiting for them.

Maisy was talking with Lorelai when she spotted them walking over and hugged Luke. "Lorelai was just filling me in on how everything was," she told him.

"It's been a challenge, I'll stay that. But challenges are always good," he shrugged.

"Of course. Keeps ya strong. Builds character." Maisy noticed and greeted Jess as well. "How ya doing, Jess?"

"Good," he replied. The two made small talk until Luke introduced Maisy to Jaiden.

"Jaiden, this is Maisy, she was a school friend of my mother's." Jaiden had still not looked up since getting out of the jeep, except for a glance or two.

"It's very nice to meet you, Jaiden," she replied. Thankfully, her and Buddy were supportive when Luke informed them he and Lorelai were adopting from foster care. She had told him she was sure his own mother would be proud of what they were doing since his mother loved children, herself.

The guys took their seats. Luke left a chair for Jaiden to sit, on his left while Lorelai sat on his right. Jess sat over across from Rory on Jaiden's other side. When Luke ordered a beer, he ordered a glass of milk for Jaiden, and helped her decide what to order.

It was Doula who ended up spotting Luke first, pointing him out. "Uh-co Lu'!" she shouted from across the table.

"Shh," her mother told her, gently. "You have to use your inside voice. Remember, sweetie?"

"Oh yeah. S'rry." She turned back to wave over at her uncle.

Luke smiled and waved back. "Hi, Doula. Your brother is here, too," he pointed Jess out, who motioned for him not to. But his sister could clearly see him anyways.

"Bi' b'ter!" Doula climbed down from her chair from where she was standing on her knees. She didn't like sitting in a booster seat. Doula dashed over to where her grown brother was and tried to climb into his lap.

"Come on, kid," Jess groaned, clearly still not used to the idea of having a little sister.

"She's loves ya," TJ pointed out, sitting on the opposite end.

"Just give your baby sister a hug, Jess," Liz told her firstborn as Doula continued to squirm her way onto his lap, eventually succeeding and wrapped her tiny arms around him, squeezing her older brother.

Jess just gently tapped her on the back. "Okay, okay. You hugged me. Can we stop already?"

Doula let go. Before she jumped down from his lap, the little girl snuck a kiss in, on his cheek, making Jess blush red in the face. Everyone except Jaiden went "awww" spectalating the whole thing.

Next, the little girl dashed over to her uncle Luke, climbing into his lap to hug him. Unlike her brother, Luke willingly returned the hug and didn't blush red when she kissed his cheek. However, when she climbed down to return to her seat, Doula then noticed Jaiden sitting there. Luke had to quickly grab his niece when she tried to hug the older little girl. Though, Doula did put up a fight to break free.

"Le' go," she told her uncle. Sometimes, Luke wondered if this kid played with butter because she could be so slippery. Doula managed to slip out of his grip just as he told her she couldn't hug Jaiden, asking Liz or TJ for help.

Jaiden shot off the other side of her chair just as Doula got loose and shot towards her. Luke also shot to his feet, this time lifting his niece up.

Liz came over to take the little girl from Luke, who was now squirming to be let down. "Sweetie, we talked about this. You gotta be careful around Jaiden, remember? She's not used to our family's affection." She headed back to where they were sitting, on the other side of Jess and April. "We can't hug her yet," Liz continued to explain.

While his sister tended to hers, Luke kneeled to Jaiden's level, with her chair between them. "You okay?"

Jaiden just stared at him.

"My niece likes to hug," he explained to her, "even if the other person doesn't. She doesn't understand boundaries yet." Everyone returned to their seats. Though, it was apparent Jaiden didn't realize Jess was right behind where she was standing because when she partly turned to sit back down, she jumped as she looked up at him. They overheard Liz explaining to Doula why Jaiden didn't like hugs in simple terms where the little girl would understand when she asked.

The rest of dinner seemed to go smoothly at least. After everyone finished eating, Buddy brought out a cake with sixteen candles which Luke pointed out, looked like a fire hazard.

"Aw come on. That's what the fire sprinklers are for," Maisy waved him off with her hand.

Before April blew them out, everyone sang _Happy Birthday_ for her. All except Jaiden and Jess, who just watched. Buddy cut the cake, giving April the first slice before Maisy served the rest. Liz asked for a smaller slice for Doula, who wasn't a fan of that.

"What harm could a bigger piece do?" TJ questioned.

"Would you like to stay up all night with her?" Liz asked.

He shrugged. "I would but I usually get pretty sleepy after a big meal like this."

"How big a piece do I cut for the other little one?" Buddy asked, looking between Luke and Lorelai.

"Would you like a piece of cake, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked Jaiden.

Jaiden shook her head.

"Are you sure, sweetie?" Luke also asked, making sure.

She nodded that time.

"Would you like us to box a piece up and you can take it home to eat later?" Lorelai suggested.

Jaiden shook her head.

"Are you positive? It's really good," April tried to entice the little girl, looking around Jess. "It's red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. Have you ever had red velvet? It's my new favorite kind of cake."

Both Jaiden and Doula had been given crayons and a kid's menu to color on. While Doula scribbled all over hers, Jaiden had turned it over to draw on the back. Instead of answering April, she returned to her drawing. Just in case, Lorelai had Buddy and Maisy box up the last slice in case Jaiden changed her mind later.

Lastly, April opened her presents everyone brought for her. After she opened the last one, Jaiden shyly pushed what she was drawing over to the teenager.

"Is that for me?" she asked Jaiden.

Jaiden timidly nodded.

April picked it up to look at the picture, unfolding it first. "Wow," she said in surprise.

Jess could see it too. "Whoa…"

Everyone else was confused, though Lorelai had a guess as to what it was, having seen the little girl's art skills already.

"Well, let's see. Don't leave us in suspense," TJ told April, eagerly.

April turned the picture around, holding it up for everyone else to see. It was a crayon drawing of April, herself, though Jaiden was limited on colors considering she only had four. Everyone could clearly see it was a picture of April.

"Wow," he stated, impressed. "The kid drew that?"

Lorelai was the one to respond, and proudly too. "Yep."

"That is amazing," said Liz. "You are really talented, Jaiden."

"Yeah, a real artist," TJ added.

"That is really good," Rory also complimented. "So, Jaiden excels not only in the sports, but in the arts, too. Nice."

Feeling left out, Doula held up her menu with a bunch of scribbles all over it. "Look a' mine," she said.

"Beautiful, sweetheart," TJ praised, proudly. "You did awesome too." Liz added a similar comment as well, also proud of their daughter's work.

"Be'er th'n J'n's?" Doula asked.

"Oh, definitely."

" _TJ_!" Liz hissed.

"What?" he asked, innocently. "She's my little princess. Of course I'm gonna say hers is better. I'll even say it's better than that one famous painter guy. What's his name? The one that cut off his own ear?"

"You mean Van Gogh?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, that's the guy. I'll even say she's better than him."

Meanwhile, Luke basically had to pick his jaw back up from where it had fallen onto the table. He turned on Lorelai. "Did you know about this?"

She nodded. "As of yesterday while we were waiting for her appointment. But that was a cartoon she had drawn. I didn't know she could draw real people."

"I think this is my favorite gift. She even got my glasses," April smiled at it. "Thanks, Jaiden." She looked back at it. "I think I'll get a frame for this. Show my mom I have an awesome talented little sister."

Lorelai smiled over at Jaiden. "I guess we should probably get ya an art set, huh? Would you like that, Jaiden?" She saw one shoulder slightly shrug while staring under the table at nothing.

All finished, everyone got up to leave. Saying good-bye to Buddy and Maisy, they left the restaurant, heading out to where everyone parked. As soon as Luke opened his door, Jaiden climbed in while the rest were hugging each other. Liz did come over to say bye to her and blew her a kiss. Jaiden didn't catch it, but it technically did land on her as she didn't try to dodge it either.

"It's so great to have you a part of our family, Jay," she told her. "And don't worry about going anywhere because you're stuck with us." She snickered at her own joke, giving the little girl a kind smile. Jaiden stared back at her. "Right, sweetie?" Doula was there on her mother's side. Liz had Doula wave bye to the older girl.

"Bye-bye, J'n," Doula waved.

Jaiden gave Doula the same response as her mother. Giving Jaiden one last smile, Liz turned around and gave Luke a hug. "Love ya, big brother."

"Love you too," Luke replied and waved her off as Liz headed over to where they parked. At that moment, he noticed Jess was standing there. "What are you doing?"

He nodded behind him. "You're standing right in front of my door."

Luke looked behind him. "Oh," he realized and slid into the front seat once Luke unfolded it, shutting the door so Jess could slide into his own car. However, he only reached in to pull out something, tapping on Luke's window. Rolling it down, Luke asked, "What?"

"Something for the kid," Jess held up what looked like a sketchbook. Luke moved out of the way so he could reach behind him to give it to Jaiden. Jaiden hesitated at first. "I promise it won't bite," he assured her. She shyly reached out to take the sketchbook. "A friend gave it to me once and it's been sitting in my backseat since. Got no use for it, really. Figured she would," Jess shrugged.

Both Luke and Lorelai stared at the guy in surprise. "Thanks, Jess," Luke told him which Lorelai also thanked him.

"No problem." He then slid into his car, waving back when Luke did. As one last note, Jess called over to ask Lorelai if there was a room at the inn. Lorelai called back there should be.

Taking turns, one by one, everyone pulled out of the parking lot and headed for their homes. The radio had automatically started when Lorelai had turned on the jeep. One song was finishing up. The DJ then briefly spoke before the song that came on the day before came on again. Lorelai stole a look over at Jaiden. Even in the dark, she could make out Jaiden's mouth moving a little, to the words of the song, now curled into a ball on the seat, holding the sketchbook against her lap. It didn't seem like no one else had noticed or was paying attention.

By the time Lorelai pulled into the driveway behind Luke's truck, Jaiden had fallen asleep. Her and Luke were unsure of what to do, not knowing whether or not she was a hard or light sleeper. Luke folded his seat down. Carefully stepping back there, without stepping on her feet, he undid her seatbelt, picking up her hand to carefully remove it from around her. Luke froze, holding his breath when he thought Jaiden had stirred, but she continued sleeping. Taking things slow and being as gentle as he possibly could, Luke lifted Jaiden onto his shoulder and stepped out while supporting her head.

Lorelai had been standing back a little way's, spectatlating in case he needed help with anything. "Got her?" she asked when Luke had stepped backwards, keeping her voice down where it wouldn't wake Jaiden.

"I think so," he whispered in return. Now out of the jeep, Luke was able to carefully shift her in his arms to hold onto her better, hoping to God, Jaiden wouldn't wake up. Lorelai shut the door, gently as not to wake her either and followed after her husband when he headed inside the house. Luke carried Jaiden all the way upstairs. She had to have been completely worn out because Jaiden remained asleep the whole way there, laying limply in his arms.

Upstairs, Lorelai pulled back the comforter on Jaiden's bed so Luke could lay her down, going slow as possible. He supported her head again until Jaiden was safely on her pillow and carefully removed her shoes before Lorelai covered her up. Both of them then stepped back, heading for the door. Neither one could believe the kid did not wake up at all.

Overall, the evening seemed to be a success. One family dinner down, one more to go. Hopefully, dinner with the Gilmores goes just as smoothly.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey, sorry for not updating for a while. Been more focused on my main story. Oh, and happy new year! Hope you had a good holiday! Just a note. That thing with Jess having a word with Jaiden and giving her the sketchbook, they're probably not gonna have a relationship like Jess has with Shelby, if you follow my "A Father's Love" story. Just wanted to point that out. But everyone will have a part to play in helping Jaiden. Hope everyone is still interested though after the long hiatus!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Luke was prepared when he returned to the girls' room several hours later. By now Jaiden waking up in the middle of the night was becoming routine, reminding himself this will pass eventually. Nothing lasts forever. In fact, Lorelai had pointed out it reminded her of having to wake up in the middle of the night for Rory's first year, minus the feeding and diaper change. Not meeting his own daughter until much later in her life, Luke wasn't familiar with a baby's first year. However, he did assure her he somewhat knew how she much have felt. It wasn't much of a struggle waking up because as soon as Luke heard Jaiden's cries, the adrenaline immediately started pumping. Once the adrenaline tapered off, then the struggle began.

"You're not doing too bad, though," she gave him a smirk, then a quick kiss which he returned.

Thursday rolled around which Luke dreaded on the count of April having to leave on Saturday and all. A worried thought crossed his mind how Jaiden was going to take it when both her _and_ Rory had to leave. Since spending time with the girls and probably having others come and go in her life, Jaiden might take the girls leaving as losing more people and never seeing them again. Just thinking about how many people that little girl must have met and had her heart crushed each time someone gave up on her because they weren't sure how to help.

Jaiden actually used the sketchbook Jess had given her. Luke overheard Lorelai tell her to go ask him about a pencil still assuming he carried pencils with him wherever he went. He told Jaiden he actually didn't have one on him at the moment, but went in search for one, finding one on the table where the phone was and reminded Lorelai for the umpteenth time to stop assuming he always carried pencils.

Ignoring his wife when she made a harmless little joke, Luke then turned back to Jaiden, who had gone over to sit at the coffee table, sitting on her legs. "So, any ideas what you're gonna draw?" he asked, trying to make small talk. Not one of his strong suits. He held his hands on his sides as Jaiden flipped the cover over, turning to the first clean page.

Jaiden paused as if in thought, staring at the blank page.

Lorelai had shared with Luke, what had happened during the appointment with Erica, so he decided to tell her, "You can draw whatever you want. It's your sketchbook. It can even be like a diary for your private eyes only if you want it to be. Just with pictures instead of words."

Jaiden didn't respond at all. Not even move.

Luke kneeled beside the coffee table. "You know, our fridge could use some great art. The, uh, shopping list doesn't really do it justice, you know?" He smiled when Luke caught Jaiden sneak a look at him. Not wanting to continue hovering over her, Luke left Jaiden to her own. He had to get back to the diner anyway and let Lorelai know he was leaving.

It was a fairly quiet afternoon. Lorelai watched TV while Jaiden sat at the coffee table, drawing. She tried not to steal a peek in case Jaiden had decided to use Luke's suggestion of keeping it like a diary, but the curiosity was just too much and she found her eyes glancing over at what the kid was drawing. There was a lot of erasing and redrawing. At one point, Jaiden gave up on it and tore out the page before crumbling it into a ball, tossing the paper ball next to her on the table. She then started over on the next page.

Jaiden spent the whole afternoon on the same drawing. She was still working on it when Rory got home from visiting Lane and Zack, and their boys. Hanging her coat up, Rory joined her mother and Jaiden in the living room, peeking over to see what the kid was working on. It was coming out to look like a hockey scene she may have seen on TV or something. It was pretty impressive for an eight-year-old.

"Where did you learn to draw like that, Jaiden?" Rory asked, curious.

The kid was so involved in her drawing that she ended up jumping out of her skin at the sound of Rory's voice next to her.

Rory noticed and apologized. "I just wanted to know where you learned to draw like that," she repeated afterwards.

Jaiden just shrugged.

"Did you take an art class?"

That time, she shook her head up at her.

Rory looked surprised at the kid. "You learned that all on your own?"

Biting her lip, Jaiden timidly said, "Some I learned from YouTube."

"Yeah? Well, it looks awesome," she nodded. Lorelai could see her daughter was still impressed that a kid learned how to do that just from watching a fifteen minute video. "Wish I could draw as good as you. But you know what?"

Jaiden just casually shrugged.

"That means you're the artist in the family." Lorelai could see Rory was trying to help make Jaiden feel more at ease with them. "We all have our own unique talents. April's great at science, mine's being a writer, and yours is drawing. Cool, huh?"

She just slightly shrugged one shoulder as if unsure.

Rory smiled. "I think it is."

Staring down at the pencil in her hands as Jaiden twirled it with her fingers, she timidly held it up to Rory, pointing a finger at its point.

"You need it sharpened?"

She nodded, timidly.

"Here." Rory took the pencil and disappeared into her room. The sound of her pencil sharpener could be heard for a brief moment while it was being sharpened. She then brought it back, handing it to Jaiden. "If you ever need to sharpen it again, you're welcome to go in there. The sharpener's sitting on my desk. Okay?"

Jaiden nodded.

"I can also give Mom my password in case you want to watch more drawing videos, if you want," Rory added, "and she can set it up for you."

That time, Jaiden just stared up at her.

"Well, I'll let you get back to work." Rory smiled, letting Jaiden finish. She then went over to sit with her mom.

Lorelai smiled over at her daughter. "That was nice of you, telling Jaiden she could go in your room and use your sharpener anytime, and even use your computer."

Rory shrugged. "I'm still learning the whole big sister thing, but hearing how older siblings always yell at their younger siblings that their rooms are off limits seems to be what makes it more appealing. Plus, it's not like I have anything to hide that Jaiden shouldn't see."

"Really? What about that thing in your nightstand?" Lorelai smiled, trying to keep a straight face.

Rory of course didn't get it at first. "What thing in my nightstand?"

"You know," she hinted and nudged her daughter. "That _thing_ you keep by your bed."

It took a minute for it to register before it dawned on her. "Ugh! Gross, Mom," Rory told her mom, in a disgusted voice. "There's a kid in the room, you know."

Lorelai waved a hand in the direction of Jaiden, "I'm sure Jaiden doesn't know what we're talking about. Right, Jaiden?" The kid ignored her, now engrossed in her work again.

Changing the subject, Rory asked if there was anything good on. For the next hour, they watched some documentary on TV while they discussed it among themselves. After awhile, Lorelai noticed Jaiden inch towards Rory, timidly, trying to reach out to tap her on the knee. Her hand kept flinching away. Eventually, Rory finally noticed before Lorelai could let her know Jaiden was trying to get her attention.

"Need something?" she asked Jaiden.

Jaiden hesitated while chewing on her lip. She tried to make eye contact, but couldn't keep it up.

Rory leaned forward a little, asking if she wanted to whisper it to her.

She shook her head, probably not wanting to have to get that close.

"Does your pencil need to be sharpened again?"

She shook her head at the floor. "C-can't spell," she managed to say.

"You need help spelling a word?" Rory guessed.

That time, Jaiden nodded her head, but did not lift it.

"Well, that's okay," she assured the kid. "What do you need help with?"

That time, Lorelai noticed Jaiden tense up and bit down on her lip.

Rory looked over at her now finished drawing. "Are you trying to spell hockey?"

Jaiden shook her head, timidly.

About that moment, the front door opened as Luke came inside. "I'm home," he announced. Shutting the door behind him, Luke removed his jacket and hung it up before coming into the living room.

When Luke announced his presence, Jaiden had suddenly grabbed her sketchbook and quickly hugged it to her so the drawing was out of sight. It got a raised eyebrow as Luke caught the tail end of the act.

"Uh...what's going on?" he asked, confused.

Lorelai was the one to respond first. "I'm not sure."

"Jaiden was trying to ask how to spell a word," Rory explained, next.

Luke had gone over to kiss Lorelai, stopping behind the couch to lean over her. Lorelai reached back so they could greet one another with a kiss. "Hey, sweetie," he greeted Jaiden with a smile and also told Rory, "Hey, Rory."

"Hey, Luke," Rory returned while Jaiden stared at the floor again, hugging her sketchbook to her. When Luke tried to ask if Jaiden had drawn anything, she remained still. That's when Rory excused herself, asking Jaiden if she wanted to talk in her room, away from Luke and Lorelai. Slowly, Jaiden got to her feet and followed the young woman until they were in Rory's room, which Rory closed the door behind them.

Unsure what that was all about, Luke turned back to Lorelai. "Everything go well, this afternoon?" he asked.

"Yeah. Jaiden drew while I watched TV. Pretty quiet afternoon," she replied.

"That's good."

Soon, the girls returned, ten minutes later. Jaiden timidly made her way over to Luke when Rory said she had something to give him. She remained in the walkway leading to the kitchen, behind where Rory was standing.

"It's okay, Jaiden," Rory assured her.

Luke kneeled in front of where the house phone was, to be at Jaiden's level. The kid still remained in the same spot, gripping the edges of the sketchbook in her hands. It took five minutes before she moved forward, taking each step one at a time as if she was walking on eggshells. The whole time, Luke just waited, letting Jaiden be in charge while Lorelai watched from the couch, afraid to move in case she scared her.

Jaiden stopped once she was in arm length.

"What did you want to give me?" he asked her, gently.

She stared down at her sketchbook for a moment before pulling out a page already torn out and hesitantly held it towards him.

Luke took it from her, looking the drawing over. Towards the top, it said, _to Luke, from Jaiden._ He looked up to smile at her. "You drew this for me?"

Jaiden timidly nodded.

Luke looked at it again. "I love it. Thanks, sweetie."

"Wa… Welcome," she replied, hoarsely.

"Should we go hang it on the fridge?"

A slight smile appeared and Jaiden nodded a little. Standing up, Luke had Jaiden follow him into the kitchen. Lorelai and Rory also followed. Grabbing a magnet, Luke placed it over the drawing to be seen by all who would grab something from the fridge and asked for a high five before holding his hand up, this time. Jaiden still did it in a timid manner, though.

He then asked if she wanted to help make dinner again, asking her what she wanted to make. He let her pull a chair up to the freezer and look for herself. Jaiden scanned the freezer's contents until pointing to a package of pork chops. Pulling them out, Luke told Jaiden to wash her hands while he stuck the pork chops in the microwave, to defrost.

While the pork chops defrosted, Luke grabbed some potatoes from one of the lower cupboards to wash off in the sink before showing Jaiden how to peel them, making sure she tucked her fingers in and peeled away from herself. He let her try it on her own while Luke grabbed the pork chops to season before throwing them in the oven, in a dish with peas and carrots.

Luke helped peel the potatoes while the pork chops baked, making sure to praise her every chance possible. Once they were all peeled and inside a large pot, Luke set them on the stove and checked on the pork chops.

As the two peeled and cooked, Luke also used the time to give Jaiden a head's up on Friday's plans. The CFT meeting ended up being pushed back until sometime the following week, on the count of, Jaiden's grandfather wanting to be a part of it and couldn't until his background check and all of the paperwork were completed. Thankfully, that was one less stress lifted off their shoulders, but there was still the matter of dinner with the Gilmores. So, Luke explained everything to Jaiden, and how they were supposed to be having dinner with them, once a month and gave her all the vital information to expect with Lorelai's parents.

Jaiden seemed to tense up at the thought of having to dress up.

"I feel ya, kid," Luke assured her. "I never liked the idea of dressing up and eating fancy, expensive meals, either. But we all gotta do it every once in a while." He was now mashing the cooked potatoes, getting it started so Jaiden could take over. Dropping the potato masher tool, he bent over to place his hands on his knees. "Tell ya what. To make it up to you if you do this, on Saturday, I'll take ya to the skating rink and teach you how to skate like the hockey pros do. How does that sound?"

Jaiden was holding her hands on the edge of the counter by the sink as she stared at them.

As he waited, he noticed Jaiden still wasn't convinced. Or looked that way, at least. A thought occurred to him, back when Rory was a kid, when she had used to make him pinky swear when a deal was made. Luke had always felt weird whenever Rory made him do it, but agreed to it anyway. But, the next thing he knew, Luke was raising his right pinky finger, holding it out to Jaiden. "I pinky swear," he told her.

Slowly, Jaiden lifted her gaze, stopping at his outstretched finger. She stole a glance up at him before returning it to his finger.

"I can't break a pinky swear," he explained. "Otherwise, I'd turn into a frog. Not really into the whole 'fly diet'. You know, since flies are pretty gross."

Stealing another look up at him, Jaiden slowly raised her own pinky finger, and slowly but surely wrapped hers around his. Luke made sure to wrap his, loosely, so if she suddenly let go.

After they let go, Luke added, "Don't worry, kiddo. We'll both be uncomfortable together." That actually got a slight half smile from the kid.

When Friday evening finally came around, Luke made sure to remind Jaiden of his promise to her when Lorelai asked if she could go get ready. Thankfully, Lorelai still had a box of Rory's old clothes from when she was around Jaiden's age. Actually, the dress Lorelai and Jaiden agreed on was from when Rory was about six or seven, reminding them just how small Jaiden was.

Rory offered Jaiden to fix up her hair to look nice. Jaiden didn't give either a yes or no, but the look on her face showed some more discomfort than she already had. It was Lorelai who pointed out, she didn't have to say yes if Jaiden didn't want her to. She at least compromised with her to let Rory brush it out. Nothing else, not even hair clips. Just plain brush her hair out. Jaiden didn't like that either but agreed to it.

Sitting on Jaiden's bed, Rory went and grabbed a spray bottle of detangler and had Jaiden get her brush.

"Did your mom used to do this?" Rory asked, curious as she ran the brush through her hair as gentle as possible, apologizing whenever she had to tug.

Jaiden nodded, facing away from Rory on the bed.

Lorelai was busy helping with April's hair, sitting over on her bed. "She didn't let you compromise, did she, sweetheart?" she asked, glancing over from what she was doing. "She said you had to, huh?"

Again, she nodded.

"Sometimes, hair doesn't need to be fixed up," Rory smiled. "Sometimes all it needs to look nice is just a simple brushing." Lorelai and April both agreed.

"Especially when you're a kid and still think boys have cooties," April added.

Jaiden looked over at the older girl with a worried look.

"What ya thinking about, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked.

April might've had a guess as she said, "Don't worry. Cooties are just a imaginary thing kids make up about each other when it comes to something like kissing and stuff. It's not something you can actually catch from a boy." Jaiden seemed to relax a little but not completely. Lorelai couldn't help wonder if the little girl was thinking cooties was something she could have caught. She watched Jaiden as Rory and April continued to try and hold a conversation with her as Jaiden winced at every tug, squeezing her dog in her arms.

Everyone was ready to go around six.

Luke complimented on how nice Jaiden looked, but added she always looked beautiful. He helped put her jacket on as they were leaving. It didn't exactly go with her nice outfit, but it was the only jacket Jaiden had and besides, she would be taking it off once they got there, anyway.

The seating arrangement was the same as last time. This time, April had brought along a book she was reading at the moment, along with a tiny flashlight she was using as a reading light. Unlike the quick ride to the restaurant, the drive was longer as Lorelai got onto the highway to head in the direction of Hartford, eventually pulling into her parents' driveway, and parked. Everyone piled out of the jeep and headed up to the large double front doors where Lorelai pressed the doorbell, making sure Jaiden was doing alright.

Not long after the doorbell was rung, one of the doors opened. The latest maid greeted them, stepping to the side to let the guests enter. As they removed their jackets and coats, Emily was coming into the foyer to greet them.

"And, Mom, I'd like you to meet Jaiden," Lorelai said once everyone else was accounted for. "Jaiden, this is Emily Gilmore, my mother."

"Hello there, Jaiden," Emily greeted, cheerfully with a nod. "It's very nice to finally meet you."

Jaiden remained quiet, staring at the floor in her usual stiff demeanor, chin pinned to her chest.

Richard shortly joined them as they made their way into the living room, shaking Luke's hand once he greeted Rory with a hug. "And this pretty little thing must be Jaiden," he smiled over at her.

Lorelai offered Jaiden the armchair closest to the couch she and Luke took once Luke shook his father-in-law's hand. "Yep," she replied. "Jaiden, this is my father, Richard Gilmore." She still didn't look up. Lorelai did notice her sitting up straight with her hands in her lap as if Jaiden was trained that way. Leaning over, she assured, "you don't have to sit like that, sweetheart. You can sit the way you feel comfortable, just don't put your feet on the chair. Okay?"

Even though it was soft, her parents was still able to hear. "I think the way Jaiden is sitting is just fine," Emily stated.

"I agree. Just as a lady should," Richard agreed, straightening up higher than he was and gave the little girl a proud smile.

Lorelai was about to argue that point until Luke placed a hand on hers to stop her there, not wanting a fight to break out in front of Jaiden while she was getting to know Emily and Richard. Though, he did agree on his wife's part Jaiden did not have to sit like that, but also guessed she was trained to.

Emily asked how both Rory and April were doing, about high school, and how work was going for Rory. Richard asked how things at the diner and at the inn were. Things seemed pleasant enough. But of course they would want to know about the newest addition to the family.

"So, how is Jaiden?" Richard was the one to ask.

Everyone looked over at the quiet little girl, who shrunk when all eyes turned on her.

"She's not hiding so that seems to be great progress." He turned to Luke. "I hear she's warming up to you, Luke."

He nodded. "Uh, yeah. Jaiden helped me in the kitchen three times this week."

Richard lit up, pleased. "That's wonderful. Cooking is a great way to bond."

Luke agreed.

"Has she spoken at all?" Emily asked.

"She has said a few more words, yes," Lorelai replied with a nod.

"She tried to teach me how to play hockey the other day," said Rory.

"Oh, how did that go?" Richard asked.

Rory nodded once as she replied, "She won by a landslide. I could barely keep up with her." She gave Jaiden a gentle smile, though Jaiden hadn't noticed.

Emily didn't seemed pleased as her husband did. "Why on earth would anyone want to play a sport like hockey? You skate around on ice in a freezing cold arena, knocking people's teeth out."

"They wear mouth guards and face masks on their helmets, Mom," Lorelai tried to inform her mother about the safety of hockey, her eyes pointed up towards the ceiling.

"So? Football players wear helmets and shoulder pads, and you still hear of them breaking a collarbone," she pointed out. "And you want to risk Jaiden losing a tooth or breaking a bone like that?"

"Breaking a bone is part of a childhood when sports are involved," Luke said. "My nose isn't the only bone I broke growing up."

"And besides, it's not like Jaiden has that risk anyway, considering she's not allowed to play on a team." Lorelai didn't mean to sound bitter. She was still aggravated with how things had went on Monday.

Emily looked over at her daughter. "Says who?"

"Her therapist. Apparently, it's not best Jaiden participates in a contact sport like hockey because of her outbursts."

Surprisingly, Richard looked appalled. "That's outrageous. If anything, a contact sport would help rid Jaiden of all that pent-up aggression she could be holding onto. I could talk to this woman if you like."

"It's okay, Dad," she assured him.

"Are you sure? I'm certain I could try and persuade her to let Jaiden play the sport she wants."

"Really, it's fine. If hockey doesn't turn out, we actually found a back-up."

"What kind of back-up?" asked Emily.

It was April who proudly answered. "Jaiden can draw exceptionally well."

"So," Richard smiled over at Jaiden, "we have an artist?"

"She drew my self portrait for my birthday. Looks just like me"

"That is wonderful," said Emily.

Jaiden was shrinking even more into herself, though they could see she was also trying to stay upright. It was Rory who suggested moving along, sensing she wasn't liking all of the attention.

Directly at seven, the maid returned to announce dinner being served. Everyone moved to the dining room where Jaiden had chosen a seat next to Luke, who quietly made sure she was doing alright. Thankfully, the spotlight was turned on Rory when Emily and Richard wanted to know more about work. Overall, the rest of the night turned out well, thankfully.

It was around nine-thirty when Lorelai pulled into the driveway. This time, Jaiden was still awake. Turning off the jeep, she asked everyone if they could give her and Jaiden some time alone. Lorelai got out long enough so Rory and April could, heading inside with Luke. Once she slid back under the wheel, Lorelai twisted around to face the little girl, who remained in the backseat.

"You're not in any trouble, sweetheart," she assured Jaiden, noticing the kid had tensed up. "I just wanted to let you know, Luke and I don't expect you to sit properly when we go to my parents'. I mean, yes, you should be polite and respectful, but if you don't feel comfortable sitting up straight with your hands in your lap, you don't have to. Okay?"

Jaiden stared at nothing in particular. She then shook her head without looking up.

Lorelai didn't understand what she was saying no to. "No, what, sweetheart?"

As if trained, she uttered, "Children are seen, not heard," as if reciting what had been told to her.

"No, sweetheart," Lorelai shook her head. "That is not true. Children can be seen _and_ heard."

But Jaiden continued to shake her head.

"Who told you children are seen, not heard? Was it your mom?"

She hesitated before nodding that time.

Lorelai couldn't help give the kid a sympathetic look. That probably explains why Jaiden has a fear to speak up. Her mother never gave her a chance to have a voice. "Oh, sweetheart." This time, Lorelai shook her head, repeatedly. She couldn't hold back any longer. She had to say it. "Kid, you have no idea how much I want to scoop you up and hug you."

That actually got her attention. Jaiden lifted her gaze to look at the woman. Lorelai had left her door open, so the overhead light was lighting up the inside so they could see each other.

"About what happened Monday," Lorelai continued. "I'm sorry you have a mean therapist." She gave a shrug, holding it for a moment, "if it were up to Luke and I, we would let ya play on a hockey team. I mean, Luke even said he would coach it, or at least help coach. Hopefully, the drawing classes work out. That'll be cool, huh? Learn some new skills to be an even better artist. That should be fun, right?"

Jaiden nodded over at her, timidly.

Lorelai leaned her upper arm against her seat. "Whatever you need, sweetheart, we'll do everything in our power to make it happen. I know I've been screwing up between us. I'm trying. I'm only human, after all."

Jaiden dropped her gaze once more, staring at her lap.

Glancing downward, she said, "I really want to get to know the real you. The real Jaiden. We're all a mess if you really think about it, and I don't care if we have to fight our way through the ugly stuff to get to that point." Lorelai watched her for a moment. "You're a great kid. You really are," she reiterated. "Don't let anyone tell you any different, you hear me?"

That time, Jaiden looked back up. Slowly but surely, she inched her way to the edge of the middle seat. But stopped as Jaiden sat there, staring up at Lorelai.

Being careful as she could, Lorelai reached out to Jaiden, going slow. She inched her hand the rest of the way. Once the back of her fingers touched Jaiden's right cheek, Jaiden flinched backwards. Lorelai didn't move her hand, though. Instead, she held it to hover in the same spot. When Jaiden opened her eyes and saw Lorelai hadn't moved, she stared at the hand. Hesitantly, Jaiden moved towards it until she bumped into it. It still made her tensed a little, but Jaiden didn't move. She let Lorelai brush her fingers against her cheek, gently caressing it.

"That's it, sweetheart." Lorelai smiled. "No need to be afraid. I would never hurt you."

Tears suddenly appeared in the kid's eyes. The next thing Lorelai knew, Jaiden had leaped up from the seat and gripped her, tight.

Lorelai sighed in relief under her breath as she was finally able to wrap her arms around the little girl. Hope was filling up her whole heart.

"Please don't leave," she heard Jaiden utter from her shoulder.

"I promise, kid. You have our word. But…" Then came the hard part. She didn't want to, but Lorelai knew it needed to be said if they had any hope of legally making Jaiden a part of their family. So she released Jaiden to look the kid in the eye. "You have to tell us the truth, though. Did your grandfather hurt you at all?"

The look Jaiden gave broke her all over again as her eyes grew wide.

She shook her head.

"Sweetheart, if you're trying to protect him, then we can't help you. Celia says he'll be able to take you from us." The pleading in her voice couldn't be helped. They knew the suspicions, Jaiden just needed to confirm it.

Jaiden roughly shook her head in a repeated motion. "Papa loves me! Papa loves me! Papa loves me!" She flew back against the seat, screaming that, over and over again. It was possible the neighbors could hear this, but that wasn't what was Lorelai's top priority at the moment. Jaiden lifted her knees to her chest, placing her hands over her ears. "Papa loves me!" she continued, now starting to rock. This was actually new. Lorelai wasn't sure where this was coming from, wondering if she should call Luke. But then her mama bear instincts kicked in and Lorelai found herself climbing back there.

The moment she landed on the seat next to the little girl, Lorelai tried to wrap her arms around Jaiden. However, she instantly reacted whenever someone invaded her space and Lorelai found herself in Luke's place.

"Jaiden, it's okay. It's okay, sweetie. I promise," she called over her, repeating that over and over again. When that didn't work, Lorelai remembered her mother-in-law's lullaby and sang it herself while pinning Jaiden in her arms, firmly as she continued to repeat the same words. When Lorelai sang, "rest your head close to my heart," she pulled Jaiden closer to her chest. It was a challenge as Jaiden was fighting up quite a storm. But Lorelai wasn't giving in just as Luke didn't.

Eventually, Lorelai was able to lower her head against Jaiden's, still holding onto her. After singing the lullaby a few times, Jaiden began to settle down.

"Papa loves me," she stated one last time, almost in a whisper.

Holding her still, Lorelai softly replied, "I'm sure he does, sweetheart. I'm sure he does."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Jaiden went straight up the stairs once her and Lorelai came inside. She changed into her pajamas, fixing to climb into bed when Luke poked his head inside the room, letting Jaiden know the others wanted to do a game night for Rory and April's last night, and asked if she wanted to join. He offered to help if Jaiden didn't understand a game. It was relieving to see the little girl slide down from her bed, grabbing her dog and Diego on the way over where Luke was standing. He too was already changed into his pajamas, along with the other girls when they came downstairs.

They set the first game up at the kitchen table.

"Should we really be playing _Monopoly_?" April asked as Lorelai counted out each player's money.

She shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because someone always ends up in an argument and quits in the middle of the game," April reminded her, "and with Jaiden, here, that's probably not the best idea to let happen."

Knowing her stepdaughter had a good point, Lorelai reluctantly started returning the money to the box.

"How about _Life_?" Rory suggested. "That should be fine." And ran to grab the board game from the downstairs closet while Lorelai finished putting _Monopoly_ away with April and Luke's help.

"You ever play _The Game of Life_ , Jaiden?" Lorelai asked, gathering all the five _Monopoly_ bills.

Jaiden shook her head she held against her dog while clutching Diego in her hand.

"I told her I'd help her through whatever game we play," said Luke, sitting next to her.

Rory shortly returned with the game, sitting on Jaiden's other side. Lorelai and April were sharing one side of the table while Luke, Rory, and Jaiden each had a side of their own. Once _Monopoly_ was picked up, they each set up _The Game of Life_ , the latest version. It was April who asked Jaiden which color car she wanted, holding them out in her hand for Jaiden to pick. Jaiden timidly reached out and chose the red one, and told her to grab a person from the box to stick in the car.

As the game was being set up, Luke explained to Jaiden how to play. Lorelai, Rory, and April all chose to go to college first while Luke didn't and already had to choose a career. April fanned the cards out for him, faced down so he could choose two, getting salesperson and athlete. Luke ended up choosing athlete as his career.

"You want to go to college, kiddo," Rory asked of Jaiden, pointing out the two routes on the board, "or jump right into a job?" Jaiden pointed to the career route. "You don't want to go to college and get a really good job that pays more?"

She shook her head and admitted something in almost a whisper so only Rory heard since her head was low.

"It's a game, kiddo. You can do whatever you want to," Rory explained. Jaiden still continued to shake her head. So Rory reached over to grab the career cards that didn't need a degree.

As she did, Lorelai asked, "What did she say?" softly.

"Not smart enough," Rory repeated and shared a sympathetic look with her mom. She turned back to Jaiden to fan out the cards. "Okay, pick two cards."

Jaiden sat up to hesitantly pull out two cards.

"Now, look them over and choose which one you want to be."

She immediately handed one card to Rory, "This one."

Rory looked it and smiled, and held it out when Lorelai asked what it was. It was the artist career. What were the odds of the kid getting the one that most described her? Setting the other card back with the rest, she returned the artist card to Jaiden, telling her to keep it nearby, and had her choose her salary card.

The game continued with eventually the rest of them graduating from college and choosing their careers. When it came time to get married, Jaiden didn't seem all that excited. Though, she seemed to smile a little when Luke told her, "if you ever do get married for real, the guy has to treat you right or I will have to come teach him a lesson. No one hurts my girls and lives." He then smiled at her that made her smile in return.

April also added, "He means that," with a sure nod. "He made me put the boy, I went to the movies with, a couple times, on the phone to give him a lecture. I told ya Dad's protective."

"He's scared one of my boyfriends, too," Rory nodded in agreement. They all laughed about it, including Luke while Jaiden listened, quiet.

As the game continued, Jaiden actually started to come out of her shell and get some enjoyment along with the rest of the family. After Rory won, they changed games, getting out _Jenga_ , next. It was perfect since Jaiden was usually the cautious one, not having any problems like everyone else did. Lorelai even noticed her toys had been left untouched on Jaiden's chair for a good while as she stood for the remainder of the game.

The tower ended up falling on Luke's turn, scattering all over the table. Jaiden frowned to Luke losing, who assured it was just pure fun. The tower was rebuilt and the game started over once more.

The third and final game they played was _Twister_. Still not wanting to be close to everyone, Jaiden was given the spinner while everyone else twisted themselves up into human pretzels.

"She said right hand, blue," Lorelai pointed out as they tried to maneuver themselves to move their hands.

"My arm doesn't bend that way," Luke pointed out.

"Rory's in my way," April stated.

"Well, I kind of have a butt in my face, keeping me from seeing what I'm doing," Rory argued.

Lorelai tried to direct everyone on how to move, resulting in all of them slipping and falling off the game mat and onto their backs. Jaiden just watched from the couch, leaning over the couch's arm as they groaned and blamed each other for losing.

Since it was late, the game night came to an end.

This time, when Luke came in to check on April, and kissed her good night, he switched over to Jaiden's bed, asking if he could kiss Jaiden, good night. Though she gave the okay, Jaiden still tensed up when he reached over and kissed her on the forehead.

"Good night, Jaiden," he smiled.

Jaiden looked up at him, opening her eyes. Paul Anka hurried into the room and jumped up onto the kid's bed, turning in a circle a few times before settling down beside her.

"Don't forget, we're going skating tomorrow after I take April to the airport. Okay?" He waited for Jaiden to nod before heading over to the doorway, stopping to turn off the light. "Love you, girls."

"Love you, too, Dad," April called back.

Leaving the door open a crack, Luke left to head down the hall to his room. After all of the excitement, everyone went right to sleep. The house was quiet until a few hours later when Jaiden cried out in her sleep.

Luke leaped out of bed and hurried back to the girls' room, getting into action like a firefighter responding to a fire. However, this time, while he was singing to her, Luke noticed she was muttering something over and over again. Unfortunately, her words were muffled together so it was hard to understand what it was she was saying.

It took ten minutes until Jaiden finally was able to wake up. At first, she flinched out of habit, but did not scoot away when she realized it was just Luke.

"You okay, sweetie," he made sure, sitting back now.

Timidly, she nodded her head.

When Luke made to stand up, he felt Jaiden clamp onto his wrist. He stared at it in surprise before looking up at her. Exchanging a quick look with Lorelai, Luke asked, "What is it, sweetie?"

"Sing it again." Her eyes gave a pleading look of that of an even smaller child.

It warmed Luke's heart to hear her request to hear the song again. "Of course, sweetie," he assured the little girl and sang the lullaby one more time for her.

The next morning, after checking on the girls to find them fast asleep, Luke made his way downstairs to make all of Rory and April's favorites for breakfast. However, shortly after he got started, something caught his eye hiding around the corner. He thought he was being very quiet, but it looks like somebody else was up already.

Keeping his voice down as not to wake Rory in the other room, Luke called out, "I see you," in a harmless teasing voice. Some blond hair appeared followed by those blue-green eyes as Jaiden gripped the wall in one hand while holding onto her toys. "I'm making Rory and April a special breakfast before they leave. Wanna help?"

Jaiden timidly nodded.

Luke invited her over with a swift motion of his head.

The girl slowly made her way over, heading over to the sink, wearing her jersey he had gotten for her. Luke handed her a dish towel to dry her hands on, afterwards, before getting started, mixing the pancake batter first. While mixing in the eggs and flour, Jaiden poured the chocolate chips in. Though, she tried to be careful, some fell in than she meant to.

"Sorry," she quickly apologized, going stiff.

Without a word, Luke just reached over and gave the top of her head a quick peck and headed over to grab a mixing spatula. As he came back over with the spatula in hand, Jaiden was staring up at him.

Rory woke up as the food was cooking, bringing her out of her room. "Morning, Luke. Morning, Jaiden," she greeted them as Rory made her way over to the coffee that Luke had started up, knowing it was a need in this house.

Just before the food was ready, the other two also awoke. Luke made everyone their plates which Jaiden offered to take them to its owner, who each thanked the little girl. Luke made sure she used two hands and that accidents were okay. Even with that said, Jaiden took things slow as she made her way over to the other girls, taking one step at a time. Once everyone had their plates, both Luke and Jaiden sat down to eat with them. However, Jaiden had stopped eating once Luke asked if April was all packed yet and April said almost. Instead, she just stared at nothing, holding onto her toys.

It was April who noticed, sitting across from the little girl. "What's wrong, Jaiden?"

Jaiden didn't respond. After a minute or two, she slid off of her chair and ran outside. When Luke noticed she was heading that way, he called for her to put her jacket on.

"I'll go talk with her," Lorelai offered, standing up. She followed after where Jaiden had gone, seeing that Jaiden hadn't put on her jacket, after all. Thankfully, Lorelai had placed a couple blankets up in her treehouse whenever Jaiden went up there in case it got cold while she was up there.

Lorelai stepped out onto the front porch catching the kid hurry up to her treehouse and headed over. "Jaiden, sweetheart? Are you okay? What's wrong?" she called up, standing an arm's length from the tree.

No answer.

"Jaiden?"

Still no answer.

"It's okay to be sad about the girls leaving. We all are. We're all gonna miss each other, but you know what? We call each other almost every day, and we just discovered this thing called _Skype_ where we can video call each other on the computer. It's cool. We can talk to each other face to face like if we're in the same place." Lorelai paused to wait for some kind of a response. Finally, she said, "it'll be okay, sweetheart. They won't be gone for good, I promise. Summer vacation is two months away, not even. Like a month and a half. Before you know it, summer will already be here and they'll be back." Her pleas fell on deaf ears and Lorelai had to give in for now and leave Jaiden alone.

Jaiden stayed up in her treehouse through the rest of breakfast and while the older girls packed and loaded their stuff into Luke and Rory's vehicles. Rory offered to take April to the airport, but Luke wanted as much time as he could get with his daughter before she had to go back to her mother in New Mexico.

The girls wanted to say bye to Jaiden, but no one wanted to push her to come down. Instead, Rory and April just called up to her. Instead of saying good-bye, they told her they'd see her in a few weeks, Rory, possibly sooner for a weekend.

Having to catch a plane, Luke and April left first. Lorelai and Rory, of course, halted a little while more, taking longer to say good-bye. When they did finally say good-bye, mother and daughter hugged each other, tight before Rory finally slid into the front seat. Once her car was out of sight, Lorelai made her way over to the house, seeing Paul Anka pawing at the tree, whining up at the treehouse.

She made her way over, kneeling down to pet Paul Anka around his neck. "I know, boy," she assured him as Lorelai stared up at the treehouse. Trying once more, she called up to Jaiden again. "Hey, I wrapped up the rest of your breakfast, sweetheart, if you're hungry. I can warm it up for you."

Still nothing.

"I miss them already, too. In fact, I could use a hug, and your hug, last night, was the best I have ever gotten," she tried to convince Jaiden to come down. "I would love another one." Lorelai paused for a minute before adding, "pretty please with sugar on top, and chocolate syrup, and cherries, and sprinkles, and chopped nuts, and all the other toppings Luke wouldn't like on his."

There was another moment of silence.

"Paul Anka really wants you to come down and give him a hug. Right, Paul Anka?" Lorelai then changed her voice to make it seem like the dog was talking as if he could. "Oh, yes. I really wish Jaiden could come down too so I could lick her face with kisses." Eventually, after keeping that up for a couple minutes, the latch opened up and Jaiden's tennis shoes appeared. Since coming to live with them, Lorelai had taken Jaiden shopping for clothes and that included new shoes, tossing the old ones in the trash.

Once her feet hit the ground, Jaiden made her way over. But instead of hugging Lorelai, she hugged Paul Anka.

Lorelai fake gasped. "What? I don't get a hug too?"

Jaiden stood up after hugging the dog.

Lorelai pretended to look hurt, giving a hurt, pouty face. "I could really use that hug of yours."

Though, she was hesitant, Jaiden cautiously stepped towards the woman and wrapped her arms around Lorelai, who did the same.

"Aw, thanks, sweetheart." Lorelai held her own arms around her waist. The hug didn't last long, though and Jaiden stepped away. "Would you like me to warm up your plate?"

Jaiden nodded.

Standing to her feet, she led the kid inside. Lorelai opened the microwave to remove the foil and shut the door to start it. She also got Jaiden another glass of milk.

"Thank you," Jaiden softly thanked her when Lorelai set both her plate and milk down.

"You are very welcome." Lorelai gave her a warm smile. While Jaiden finished her breakfast, Lorelai worked on the dishes that Luke had started on, earlier.

After a moment, Lorelai was caught off guard when she heard Jaiden call out to her. But she just looked over to ask, "yes, sweetie?"

Jaiden tried to make eye contact as she tried to ask, "Um… Are you coming with us?"

"Coming where? With you and Luke?"

She nodded.

"I can. Would you like me to come with you?"

Jaiden just nonchalantly shrugged.

"It's up to you," Lorelai assured her, gently.

That time, she gave a timid nod.

"Then we can all go." Drying her hands on a dish towel, Lorelai went over to sit in the chair next to Jaiden, to face her. She leaned her arms on the table. "How about after we go skating, we get a pizza and rent a movie on the way home? How's that sound?"

Jaiden just shrugged.

"It can be any movie you want to see."

Hesitantly at first, she admitted, sadly, "I never got to see the rest of _Lion King 2_ one time when I had to move again."

Lorelai perked up as if she was suddenly excited. "Sure, we can see if the video store has it if you like."

Jaiden nodded. It was great she was starting to speak up now, and opening up to them. Hopefully, eventually, if Jaiden kept feeling more comfortable talking, it'll help her talk about her past and what really happened. Lorelai could only hope.

Luke got home around 2:30 in the afternoon, heading over to where Jaiden was curled up on the end of the couch with her knees up and holding her sketchbook, working on her next drawing. "Hey, sweetie. Ready to go?" he asked, standing behind the couch.

Jaiden jumped at the sudden sound of his voice and quickly looked up.

He apologized to her before repeating his question.

She nodded.

Lorelai was sitting on the other end of the couch, holding the remote, surfing through the channels for something to watch. "Jaiden has requested for me to come too," she told him.

"Oh, really." Luke looked from Lorelai, to Jaiden, smiling at the kid.

She gave him a nervous look, tensed up in a ball.

"It's okay if Lorelai comes," he assured her. Leaning over, he kissed the top of her head, feeling her tense up even more.

"I also told her, we'd get a pizza and movie on the way home, afterwards," Lorelai added.

"So, pizza and movie night, tonight, then?"

"Yep," she nodded.

Jaiden wanted them to take the jeep instead of Luke's truck, climbing into the backseat when Luke folded his seat down.

On the way to the ice rink, Lorelai noticed Jaiden was trying to reach over and tap Luke on the back of the arm, but kept flinching her hand away.

"Luke," she said softly to get his attention.

Luke switched from the windshield, to Lorelai, "Hm?"

She motioned her head towards Jaiden. Just as Luke looked back, Jaiden suddenly flinched backwards, looking away.

"Need something, sweetie?"

With some hesitation, Jaiden tried to respond. It helped when Luke encouraged her. "This is my favorite band," she finally said, glancing up at him, afterwards.

Luke glanced at the radio as the group, Rascal Flatts were playing, singing their song, _Life is a Highway_. However, by the time she was able to say what was on her mind, the song ended. "Yeah, you like these guys?"

She timidly nodded.

He gave her a smile before facing forward again. More sharing! This kid was on a roll! He tried asking if she had a favorite song, but said she couldn't choose. A lot of their songs were her favorite. Though, really, they also guessed Jaiden probably didn't know what the songs were called.

Another song came on a little bit later. It wasn't by Rascal Flatts, but left a chilling moment that dropped the excitement to sadness. It was by another country singer, Martina McBride, who was singing her song _Concrete Angel_ and the couple couldn't help steal a look back at Jaiden, to see her singing along under her breath. Luke held a hand out for Lorelai, who took it into hers, letting him hold it as he rubbed it with his thumb, comforting her as they listened to the song play. Lorelai couldn't help keep glancing up into the rearview mirror, even though it was hard to watch as Jaiden stared out her window.

Halfway through the song, tears had appeared on both sides of Lorelai's face. Using her knee to steer, she quickly tried to wipe them away, but more kept coming, especially when a tear on Jaiden's cheek had appeared.

The song ended just as Lorelai pulled into the ice rink's parking lot and parked near the main opening. Luke stepped out and folded his seat down to let Jaiden climb out. When she went to lift her foot up onto the step, it got caught in Luke's seat belt, causing her to stumble forward. Thankfully, Luke was watching and quickly reacted, catching the little girl in time and lifted her out of the jeep, placing her on her feet.

Kneeling to her level, he asked, "You okay?"

Jaiden nodded. It seemed like she was shaken up by it, but wasn't hurt.

Once everything seemed at peace again, the three of them headed inside the small arena. Not at all liking the idea of having to rent skates that other people had their feet in, he had gotten a pair for him and Jaiden, sometime during the week while Lorelai still had the pair he had given to her when Luke made the ice rink a few years ago. Sitting on the bottom part of the bleachers, Luke helped Jaiden put hers on, tying them for her.

"That too tight?"

Jaiden shook her head, letting him do the same with the other skate. He had also gotten Jaiden, a helmet for protection, along with elbow and knee pads. The helmet was even for hockey,

"Jeez, Luke," Lorelai said, once Jaiden was all suited up, "why don't you put the poor kid in a plastic bubble?"

"It's just a precaution," he informed her. "In case she fell on the ice."

"What happened to 'breaking a bone was apart of a childhood when sports are involved'?"

"Where that is true, it doesn't mean I want it to happen, especially during her first time on the ice."

She nodded, "Alright then." Lorelai couldn't help snicker at him when Luke wasn't paying attention.

All suited up, Luke and Lorelai offered to hold onto Jaiden's hands as they made their way over to the opening of the public rink. Since it was a Saturday during spring break, other people of all ages were out there, skating, as well. Her form was tensed up, but this time from nervousness of having never done this before. Up till this point, Jaiden had only seen it done on TV.

A little rusty, having last skated in middle school when Luke stopped playing hockey, he skated around for a bit, on his own while Jaiden held onto the wall. Lorelai also had to take a moment to warm up, not doing this a whole lot, herself. She stayed close to Jaiden, though, not going too far. At one point, another little girl, a few years younger than Jaiden but around the same height, was riding along the wall. She had barely got passed the opening, quickly catching herself with the wall Jaiden was holding onto, saying, excuse me. Lorelai offered to help the little girl around Jaiden, explaining Jaiden was also learning how to skate. She thanked Lorelai once the little girl was on the wall again and continued on her own.

Meanwhile, Jaiden was struggling to remain upright.

Lorelai offered Jaiden to let her hold onto her hands, but was too afraid to let go of the wall. Taking it one hand at a time, Lorelai helped her grab hold of her hands. The minute Jaiden let go of the wall, her feet slipped out from under her. Thankfully, Lorelai already had a hold of her hands, keeping her from completely falling and raised Jaiden up where she could stand again.

"Just take it one step at a time, sweetheart," Lorelai coached her, starting to skate backwards now. "Just like if you were walking." They went at a slow and steady pace, letting Jaiden take her time at learning. "That's it. You're doing great."

Jaiden kept watching her feet as she scooted forward. With each passing step, Jaiden would squeeze Lorelai's hands, especially when one of her feet would slip. Lorelai kept assuring her, falling was normal while you were learning, helping Jaiden back up. Eventually, the girls caught up with Luke, who slowed to a stop beside them, and slowly skated next to them.

"How's everything going?" he asked.

"Pretty good. Jaiden's getting the hang of it," Lorelai explained.

"Hey, uh, you didn't happen to see me over there, did you?" Luke pointed over his shoulder.

She shook her head, glancing between him and Jaiden. "Nuh uh. I've been focused on Jaiden, this whole time. Why?"

"Oh, no reason," he shook his head.

"Did you end up falling on your butt?" Lorelai ended up guessing.

"What? No," he shook his head, denying it even though he totally did and had to have one of the rink attendants help him up. "No, just wondering." But when his wife, who knew him, gave him an unconvinced look, Luke admitted, "Yeah, totally."

Turning back to Jaiden, Lorelai told her, "See, even adults falls, sometimes," to help her feel better.

Jaiden looked up at Luke, at that.

Luke also offered his hand, but told her to keep a hold of Lorelai's, letting Jaiden skate between the two of them. "Little steps," he coached her. "Let your feet glide on the ice and bend your knees." They both went slow, letting Jaiden get a feel for skating as she held onto each of their hands. Once Luke felt she was ready, they moved a little faster.

Jaiden still slipped a few times, but Luke and Lorelai didn't let her fall completely. A couple times, she did drop on her knees before they lifted her up again, the kneepads shielding her knees from the impact of the ice. The kid continued to squeeze their hands tightly.

"You're doing great," they'd each praise.

They kept at this pace for about an hour before Luke finally asked if Jaiden was ready for them to let go, yet.

"We'll be right here, sweetie. You can do this," he encouraged.

Jaiden nodded, still looking down at her feet.

Letting her know, first, they let go of her hands, letting Jaiden skate on her own. She wobbled quite a bit before falling backwards. The helmet actually ended up coming in handy when the back of her head collided with the ice.

Luke skated up to her, reaching out his hands for her. "It's okay, sweetie. Just have to keep trying." Struggling to her feet, Jaiden managed to get up on her knees before reaching out for his hands, grabbing his right hand first. She then pulled herself up, slipping a couple times until she was able to stand.

Luke held onto Jaiden for a moment before they tried again, letting her hands go. This time, she suddenly panicked and quickly grabbed onto his jacket for balance before Luke could move out of her way. "You okay?" he asked, gently taking a hold of her wrists.

Jaiden kept watching her feet as they continually moved back and forth.

"Keep your knees bent, sweetie," Luke reminded her, skating with her again. After a moment, he helped her over to the side and had Jaiden watch him skate around the rink once, before coming back, also showing her how to stop, as well. "Just like that. Ready to try again?"

She nodded.

"Atta girl," Lorelai cheered the little girl on. "That's the way."

Jaiden cautiously let go of the wall and tried to push off, but ended up falling again. Luke helped her up again, letting her kick off again, herself. He skated alongside her, to help remind Jaiden what to do, also reminding to keep her knees bent, and told Jaiden to hold her hands out to the sides for balance, but too high.

After a few tries, Jaiden managed to skate on her own. She fell down when she tried to stop, but it was a work in progress. They went for another hour before calling it a day when they reached the opening. Both Luke and Lorelai helped Jaiden step off the ice and over to where they left their shoes.

"High five, kid," Lorelai told Jaiden to get her attention and held up her hand. Jaiden returned it, not as timid, that time.

Luke held his hand out from where he was sitting next to her, for a low five. They changed back into their regular shoes and Jaiden removed her elbow and knee pads. She wanted to keep wearing her helmet, though, but undid the chin strap.

On the way home, Luke ordered the pizza so it would be at least almost ready once they got there. "I'm proud of you, sweetie," he told Jaiden after hanging up his phone and looked back behind his seat. "You did great for your first ice skating lesson."

Hearing Luke say he was proud of her, lit up her face. In fact, this was the first time seeing the kid so happy. There wasn't any teeth showing, but she was smiling none the least.

"It takes a lot of practice to keep improving, though," he continued. "How about every Saturday afternoon, we go back and practice some more? How's that sound?"

Jaiden thought on it for a moment before nodding her head.

"And after your court hearing, if all goes well and we have ya, maybe you'll be ready to play hockey on a team." Jaiden really perked up on that part.

It made Luke really happy to see the little girl excited. He gave her a thumb's up. On the way home, they stopped at the video store to see if they had a copy of _Lion King 2_. Sure enough, they did. Luke ran in to get the pizza while the girls waited in the jeep. It was a short, two minute wait and soon they were back on the road again before pulling into the driveway. Once inside the house, while Paul Anka greeted the girls, Luke suggested getting ready for bed first. While Jaiden showered, both he and Lorelai called their older girls to make sure they got home, safe and sound. Of course, April and Rory both wanted to know how the skating lesson went and wanted to say good night to Jaiden. Jaiden didn't say a word, but got on the phone so Rory and April could.

Lorelai put the movie in the DVD player, skipping to the menu. Once Luke returned, showered and changed, she pressed play. Jaiden sat on the floor, holding her plate on her lap. "Hey, sweetheart, since there's less people now, why don't you come sit with us. There's plenty of space," she suggested, patting the cushion between her and Luke.

Shyly, Jaiden stood up with her plate and made her way over. Luke moved his legs out of the way so she could get by. Lorelai offered to hold her plate so Jaiden could sit down and get comfortable before giving it back to her. _Lion King 2_ was Luke's first Disney flick. In a long time, anyway, having not seen one since he was about Jaiden's age, probably older since he had a younger sister he was left in charge of a lot of the time who would beg him to watch with her. _Lion King 2_ wasn't bad in his opinion, though having never seen the first film, he had nothing to compare it too as the first was way past his and Liz's time. Luke did question why the animals broke into song every ten minutes.

On the other hand, Jaiden loved it. She did tear up when Kovu's brother died, proving how good-hearted she was when the lion was on the antagonist's side, wanting to please his mom, and cried even more during Kovu's exile song, hugging both her toys to her. By the end, she cheered up at the happy ending. After the movie was over, all three headed upstairs for bed where Luke and Lorelai came in to say good night. Jaiden had been staring over at April's empty bed sadly when they came in.

"I know, sweetie," Luke assured her. He sang for her upon request before he and Lorelai each kissed Jaiden, good night.

Things seemed to be looking up and going well. But of course, when was things ever easy for Luke and Lorelai? Even as spring break was coming to an end and things were starting to go well, Luke, Lorelai, and even Jaiden would soon have the rug pulled right from under them as a nearby storm would soon come crashing in.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Jaiden had to return to school on Monday. Her and Lorelai had breakfast at Luke's before Lorelai dropped Jaiden off on her way to the Inn, but Luke had to pick her up later that afternoon. The inn was holding a function that Lorelai needed to be there for, to oversee, so Luke had to take Jaiden to her appointment. This was actually his first time since Lorelai usually handled all of the appointments. She talked him through what to do and what to expect though. Of course, being Luke, the guy felt nervous and felt intimidated especially sitting in Erica's office and having to do most of the talking for him and Jaiden.

Erica asked questions about the past week since the last session, and how things were going. She had been surprised to see it was Luke instead of Lorelai, but he explained to her about the inn's function dinner and Erica understood, just glad someone could bring Jaiden. She was also very impressed when he shared all of the progress they've had in just the last couple of days. Though, Erica seemed to be concerned when Luke mentioned the freakout with Lorelai, Friday night as Jaiden had never done anything like that. She also wasn't too happy that Lorelai hadn't informed her of the grandfather as it was something that should have been discussed during the last session.

"Lorelai just felt it should have been brought to Jaiden's attention at home," Luke had said.

"News such as family being found and the possibility of the child going to live in their care should be brought to a professional's attention," she explained. "That way we can talk about whether or not it is the best solution or not. I explained all of this to Celia. Now, I understand Jaiden seems to be doing well in your care and maybe we won't have to place her in therapeutic care, but now that someone new has come into the picture, it might complicate things. If the grandfather does end up able to care for Jaiden, are you and your wife okay with that? I know your end goal was to adopt and not just foster, but things can change, even at the very last second."

Luke didn't even have to ponder on the question. "No."

"And why is that?"

Quickly switching between her and Jaiden, he said, "With the way Jaiden's responded every single time we bring the guy up, do you really think the grandfather's got any kind of a chance?"

"Yes," she nodded.

Luke was taken aback by how casual Erica sounded as she leaned her jaw against her hand.

"Too many times, parents and sometimes relatives have slipped under the radar, and we find out too late that they weren't who they said they were, or everything that was worked for or overcame ended up, relapsed." Erica lifted her head from her hand, to add, "now I'm not saying you're wrong. There could be something up with this man, but the fact of the matter is, Celia says he's doing everything he is supposed to, complying with all the rules. She's just waiting on the background check to come through, and chances are it's gonna come out clean because it usually does."

Luke gave Jaiden a heartfelt look. Looking back at Erica, he asked, "So, even if her grandfather is guilty…" Luke gulped. "...she could still end up in his care?" Even though he already knew this bit of information, hearing it out loud still freaked him out.

She nodded somberly. "I'm afraid so. Not without proof, and since it could have happened at least four years ago, unless Jaiden speaks up and says he's done something to her, there's really nothing we can do." Both adults looked over at the little girl, who was sitting there beside Luke, curled in a ball. "How do you feel about going to live with your grandfather, Jaiden?"

Jaiden just sat there in silence, staring at nothing. She wouldn't look up or even nod or shake her head. But that was usually how she was during their sessions, together, so Erica couldn't really take that for an answer.

"You believe us right," Luke asked. "About how she reacts at our house whenever we bring him up?"

"I mean, neither you or your wife has given us any reason to doubt you, and I'm sure Celia feels the same way. Once the visits start, I'll have the grandfather join us in our sessions so I can see their interactions. If a red flag goes up, I will make sure to note it and we will do our best to look into the matter. And, if something has happened between them, he will be charged and brought to justice. Unfortunately, it doesn't always happen." Erica shrugged, "her reactions could very well be from things her mother had said to her at some point. Possibly made him out to be a bad guy because she didn't like how well they got along or for whatever reason. I mean, accusing someone of possible sexual abuse is a serious matter and can't be taken lightly."

Luke stared at a spot on the floor. Even though Erica was right, Luke just had a feeling deep down in his gut that Jaiden's grandfather was guilty. The kid was just too terrified for it not to be true.

Like with Lorelai, Jaiden also didn't want Luke to leave when it was time for their one on one portion of the session. So he sat in during the whole time. Since Lorelai would be at the inn until late, Luke took Jaiden with him, to check in at the diner, making sure Caesar hadn't burned the place down or something. He ended up letting her hang out upstairs while he closed for the night, making her something to eat and let her watch TV. Once Luke's was closed, they headed home just as Lorelai was pulling into the driveway.

"Hey, how'd it go?" she asked as Lorelai closed her door and met them halfway.

Luke sighed. "Not as good as I would have liked, but she seemed manageable this time."

"Why, what happened?"

Luke went on to explain how the session went and all Erica had to say.

Lorelai looked on in worry as Luke spoke. "You don't think he'll get her, do you?" she asked once he was done.

Luke shrugged. "All we can do is hope that it doesn't happen."

After getting out of the truck, Jaiden had headed straight for her treehouse. Lorelai looked over where she could see the lantern shining through the windows. Turning back to Luke, she shook her head, "we have to do something, Luke. We can't let her grandfather get her, back. We absolutely can't let that happen."

"There's nothing we can do. Not right now. Not until Jaiden is willing to tell us," he reminded her.

"Well then, we gotta sit her down and find a way for her to tell us." Luke could see the woman was starting to get hysterical about all of this.

He held up his hands to halt her. "Whoa there. Do you really think it's a good idea to force it out of her?"

"I don't like the idea either, but we gotta do something. Before it's too late. I don't want that man to be able to get his hands on Jaiden, ever again."

"Look, I understand where you're coming from, I do. But forcing Jaiden to talk when the kid's extremely traumatized, isn't going to work. We need Jaiden to feel safe coming to us, that she'll be heard."

"She will," Lorelai tried to say.

Luke shook his head. "Forcing her to talk will only close her in more, I can promise you that. It needs to come out on _her_ terms when _she_ is ready, not because we want her to." When Lorelai tried to intervene again, he continued. "Remember, we have until August. That's three months away, and Jaiden's already starting to open up to us with the little things. I'm sure before we know it, she'll feel confident enough to tell the truth about her grandfather. We just have to have patience and hope it won't be too late."

She let out a sigh, looking elsewhere. Luke was right. They weren't going to get anywhere by forcing it out of the kid. They had to continue to prove to Jaiden she was safe with them, no matter what she told them. She stole a look at the treehouse again. It was always a challenge for her to have to wait on things to happen, always wanting to get things done on her own. Standing by and doing nothing was absolutely killing her. But if that's what it took, Lorelai would fight tooth and nail until Jaiden was ready.

* * *

The background check ended up taking the rest of the month, to go through. Every day, Lorelai would call and check in with Celia, to see if it came in or not, hoping a red flag would pop up. Of course, there was a larger chance of nothing popping up, too. Celia reminded her that background checks usually took seven days to a few weeks. It didn't mean there was a problem. In fact, Lorelai knew that, considering she has to run background checks whenever they hire someone new at the inn. Not that it made things any easier.

Jaiden continued to do well in school, academically. As for the interest, that was where things seemed to lack. Math was her greatest challenge, unable to add or subtract without the use of her fingers. Reading was a little better, but there was still a struggle with some words and reading comprehension. Lorelai tried to help as best as she could at home, reading to her every night, even finding books that would keep Jaiden's interest, like about animals or with Diego. Surprisingly, it was TJ who found a way to get the kid wanting to read more when they stopped by the diner while Jaiden was there.

"Here, try this, Jay," he told Jaiden, giving her an _X-men_ comic book. Luke watched as Jaiden took it from the guy and looked it over before opening to the first page. She flipped through it, not really reading anything. Looking up, Jaiden politely told him, thank you. "No problem," TJ assured her with a smile. "Personally, I find Wolverine the best. But there are a ton of characters that are likable, and if you like it, you just let me know and Uncle TJ will get ya some more. Okay?"

She nodded before walking away.

Luke was skeptical about the whole thing, but was willing to give it a try since she did like to draw. About an hour later, when he headed up the stairs to check on her, Luke ended up finding Jaiden sitting on the middle of the stairs, engrossed in the comic book. It took several minutes before he even got her attention, to ask if she wanted anything to eat. So, guess there's a point for TJ.

Though, Jaiden seemed to like the comic book, she didn't say anything or asked the next time she saw him. It was Luke who mentioned that Jaiden seemed to like the comic book, taking it to school with her, sitting up in bed with it, and more than likely, reading it up in her treehouse because there were a few times Luke or Lorelai would call up to her and never received an answer. At first, they thought something was wrong, but when Luke climbed up enough to knock on the latch before calling out for the kid again, it finally opened a few seconds later.

Some of their friends throughout Stars Hollow also tried to make Jaiden feel welcomed and want to stay. Taylor would offer a piece of candy to her whenever she was with Luke or Lorelai in the store, but then charge them for it. Like how Jaiden was with Luke and Michel in the beginning, she was also weary around Taylor, along with some of their friends who happened to be male, including TJ, and even Kirk.

One day, Luke had another quick chat with her, coming back from picking her up from school.

"I know it's hard to see since your trust's been broken so many times, and sometimes it doesn't seem that way. Every one of our friends are harmless, I can promise you that." He glanced over at her as Luke watched the road. "Taylor and I can get into some pretty heated arguments, sometimes, because he's, well, Taylor, and he drives me, crazy. It's nothing you would have to be afraid of, though and we'll try and keep things to a minimum for your sake. I already told Taylor, if he ever needs to have a discussion with me, to try and wait until you're not around. Okay?" Luke watched her for a moment as Jaiden stared out the window. "Somewhere way down, deep, deep, _deep_ down in there, he cares. They all do. I've grown up with these people, and I've known them my whole life. They will watch out for ya when me and Lorelai can't."

Jaiden finally looked over at him and nodded.

Luke smiled to make Jaiden smile. "High five?" He then lifted his hand up so she could return it. It was still slightly timid, but Jaiden was slowly becoming less timid as time went on. "Oh, and TJ brought another comic book by. I left it on the table, upstairs for ya." Luke couldn't help notice a smile start to creep out. First thing he did once they got to the diner was check to see if she had any homework. It was rare, as Jaiden was still catching up. She had a class, but Jaiden mostly went to another room, to work with another teacher. Unfortunately, she was still a couple grade levels behind the rest of her class, so it looked like Jaiden would be repeating the same grade over again. The goal for this year was to just get her caught up to her current grade level and have her repeat the third grade the following school year.

Lorelai tried her best to help tutor Jaiden in the evening while Luke was preparing dinner. If Luke picked her up from school, he'd have her start on her homework if she had any, help her as best as he could, and Lorelai would check it, later. He had basic math down considering Luke dealt with it on a daily basis that came with the territory of owning and running a business. At one point, Lorelai didn't have to do anything when Jaiden brought home a worksheet on adding and subtracting word problems that involved money. He usually kept a few rolls of change around, so Luke taught her how to count change.

One day, the first week of May, Liz stopped by the diner and tried to pester Luke to let her take Jaiden for a girl's day out with her and Doula, but Luke didn't feel it was the right time yet. Even though both him and her parents has explained to Doula, about not hugging Jaiden, the littlest girl still hasn't firmly grasped the concept of boundaries yet, and continues to try and hug the older girl. Thankfully, Luke supervises the two whenever Jaiden and Doula are in the same room, and quickly intercepts his niece, who then tries to struggle out of his grasp. There was a couple close calls, too, that he almost didn't catch in time. After witnessing what happened with the kid at the park, Luke did not want to take any chances. Not until Jaiden was ready.

"You mean, U'co Lu'!" the toddler stomped her foot at her uncle once he put her down and moved from side to side to block her.

"Yep, that's me, alright," Luke replied with sarcasm, holding his hands on his sides, similar to how Doula was standing, minus the foot stomping. "Mean, ol' Uncle Luke trying to protect his niece from getting hurt."

Doula shot her uncle a stubborn glare.

Even as much progress Jaiden has shown, she still flinches whenever someone comes near, and doesn't want to hug anyone, wanting personal space instead. One more time, Luke explained that concept to his niece, who gave in. But only for the time being. If Doula could grasp the concept, he'd let Liz take Jaiden.

As Luke headed back over to the counter, now that Doula was taken care of, Liz asked, "Look, how about this idea? What if I leave Doula with TJ or set up a play date with her friend, and just me and Jaiden have some alone time to bond? Would that work?"

Luke was caught off guard by the suggestion, but nonetheless, agreed. "If Jaiden's cool with it, yeah," he said. "I just don't want you in a situation you wouldn't be able to handle on your own."

"And I get that, I do," she nodded in agreement, "especially after you told me about the three-year-old. Poor thing. And I know Jay doesn't means it. It would just be nice to get to know her more, have some girl time with her."

"You do realize you probably won't be doing anything that you and April have bonded over, right?" Luke pointed out. "She and Rory couldn't get Jaiden to paint her nails or fix up her hair."

"Really?"

He shook his head. "Jaiden's not into that stuff. She's into her own stuff like hockey and drawing."

"Well, that's okay. I'm sure we can find an activity the two of us can do." Liz turned to where Luke had set Jaiden up with restocking napkins. Since it was a slow lull day, he offered to let Jaiden help out a little in the diner. "How about it, Jay? Would you like to hang out with me for a day, just the two of us?" They saw her shoulders rise a little as if she was shrugging. "I won't make ya, but I'd like to get to know you and do some bonding between us if that's okay." There was no other response so Liz assured her, she could think on it for possibly Sunday since Luke and Jaiden was still doing the ice skating lessons on Saturday.

Every Saturday afternoon, the lessons continued, and each time, Jaiden was getting better than the last. By the end of the third lesson, she was skating on her own. Luke couldn't help feel so proud as he watched her glide along the ice with everyone else, and Jaiden probably felt the same way. If anyone had any less confidence in themselves than Luke did in himself, it was Jaiden. Though, that was understood. Not having someone to believe in her, or encourage her do something, probably has taken its toll. It also didn't help that others have given up on her in the past, too. So, to see her face light up whenever Jaiden accomplished a task such as learning how to ice skate, was rewarding.

Lorelai stopped by the diner around that time, greeting Liz and the girls, cheerfully before kissing Luke.

"Oh, hey, the verdict is finally in," she told Luke.

"You mean the background check?" he asked, arching his eyebrows for a quick moment.

"No, about the best ice cream flavor. Yes, the background check."

Luke gave her an annoyed stare.

Liz spoke up at that point. "Should I leave you guys alone for this?" She pointed back over her shoulder.

"No, it's fine. It's not much other than it came back spotless," Lorelai turned back to Luke to conclude, "and the CFT is on Friday."

"C F T?"

"Child and Family Team meeting," Lorelai explained. "It's a meeting for everyone a part of Jaiden's case, to come together and discuss the happenings of what's going on in her life and to discuss what should be done."

"It's supposed to be a way for Jaiden to share her thoughts and concerns, actually," Luke added.

"But since Jay doesn't speak…" Liz started to say until he finished for her.

"Things are decided for her."

"So, will the grandfather be there?"

"Unfortunately," said Lorelai, not at all thrilled about that fact. "It's the reason why the meeting kept getting pushed back. He wanted to be a part of it."

"And he couldn't without the background check," Liz guessed.

"Yep." Lorelai looked over at Jaiden, who had started ripping a napkin in half. Making her way over there, she kneeled to look up at her. "Sweetheart, I want you to know, Luke and I will be with you the whole time we're there on Friday. We're not gonna let your grandfather do anything to you. Okay?"

Without lifting her gaze, Jaiden softly murmured, "Papa loves me."

Lorelai gave her a sympathetic look. "I know, sweetheart." She tried to reach a comforting hand for hers. The moment they touched, Jaiden quickly pulled her hand away from her reach as she continued to stare at the napkin. Jaiden wadded up one of the halves and tore the other half some more.

"I promise. We will be there for you."

When a long silence followed, Liz turned back to her brother.

"Can that guy really get Jay that easy?"

Luke shrugged. "If he's a blood relative and meets all their requirements, yeah." His heart thumped harder against the inside of his chest as a lump rose to his throat where it got stuck there.

"Was it not good to make plans for this weekend, then?" she asked, now worried.

He had to take in a deep breath before Luke was able to respond. "No. Regardless of what happens, Jaiden will stick with us at least until the hearing, in August. So, you're good. There shouldn't be a reason we'd lose her before then." Luke said that with confidence and wanted to believe it so much. But a small part inside of him still feared all they were fighting for to adopt this amazing kid would be all for nothing. Luke knew he shouldn't think like that, but could not help it. This was the toughest thing he's ever done and scared him half to death.

Liz must have noticed especially when his chest started heaving in and out. "I'm sure everything will work out. You and Lorelai's been great for little Jay. Surely they have to take all the successful hard work you've done into consideration."

He forced a smile for his sister, but his eyes diverted back to the girls. Lorelai was still trying to reassure Jaiden.

At that moment, Doula had climbed onto the chair near Jaiden's seat and reached for the Diego toy Jaiden had sitting on the table. The second she picked it up, Jaiden reacted and instantly tried to grab her toy, back.

Pulling it out of Jaiden's reach, Doula said, "I wan' to see et." But Jaiden lunged towards the toddler. Both girls fell over the chair and onto the floor as Jaiden wrestled for her toy. Doula cried out, quickly dropping the toy and tried to get away.

Luke quickly spun into action, hurrying over to grab Jaiden off while Lorelai went around the opposite side of the table from him, to grab Doula. Liz hurried over, fearing for her daughter. The couple were able to pull the girls apart before Jaiden could do any real damage. Or so they thought.

Once Lorelai had Doula, who was crying hysterically, she passed the toddler over to her mother as Luke tried to settle Jaiden down, who was now fighting him while he held his arms around her. That's when Liz noticed the blood trickling from Doula's upper arm where she was holding onto it.

"Let me see, Princess," Liz told her daughter gently trying to remove her hand. "Oh my God." She rushed Doula over to the counter, setting her on the edge and grabbed the rag Luke had left there. Liz mopped up the blood to examine it.

Lorelai rushed in the back where Luke kept the first aid kit, bringing it back. "What is it?" she asked, setting the first aid kit on the counter behind where Doula was sitting.

Staring at it, Liz said, "She bit her."

"Come on. Bring her upstairs." Lorelai grabbed the first aid kit while Liz lifted Doula onto her side, following her up the stairs while Luke was still trying to calm a frantic Jaiden.

He had been trying to sing while also trying to dodge the headbutts. It took a bit, but Luke was able to pin an arm around Jaiden's head to hold it in place, pulling her head close to him. "Shh, shh. It's okay, sweetie." Again, he tried to sing to her. This time, to his relief, Jaiden began to settle down. The more she seemed to calm down, the more Luke could feel Jaiden grab onto his shirt in her hand and squeeze it tighter and tighter. Diego was clutched in her other hand. "It's alright, sweetie. It's alright."

Luke stared at nothing in particular as he continued to hold the little girl. No one could understand just how much the usual grumpy diner owner was fighting back tears. They couldn't lose this kid. They just couldn't….

* * *

 _ **Just a head's up for next chapter. We will finally meet the grandfather.**_


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Doula turned out to be just fine. Even though Jaiden had broken the skin, the bite mark didn't get infected. Once Luke had been able to calm Jaiden, he took her upstairs where the women were tending to Doula, to apologize. Both girls were reassured no one was in trouble and Liz reminded her daughter about not touching other people's stuff without asking, and even had her apologize to Jaiden, as well.

"Et's nah nice to bite pee-po," Doula informed Jaiden, after the girls exchanged apologies.

Jaiden stared at the floor, her body nervously tensed.

Lorelai stepped in to help, reassuring both girls, things happen and it's nobody's fault. Since they couldn't change the past, all they can do is to try and make better choices for next time and to be mindful of others, explaining in terms both girls could understand.

"Can I pway wes your toy?" Doula asked this time. "Pwease?"

Jaiden's hand tightened around Diego she still had in her hand as she continued to stare towards the floor.

"It's alright, sweetheart," Lorelai told her. Turning back to Doula, she explained that was a special toy that Jaiden didn't like to share. It confused the youngest little girl, who was taught it was nice to share her things. But no one had to share if they didn't want to even though it was nice.

Liz kept an eye on the bite over the next couple of days just in case, but it was just fine. She wasn't upset with Jaiden, though, and made sure to tell her.

The CFT meeting was at one PM on Friday. That meant Luke and Lorelai had to pick Jaiden up early from school on their way to Celia's office. They took Lorelai's jeep since Jaiden preferred to ride in that over Luke's truck whenever it was more than two people.

Now that they knew what was expected, Luke didn't bother with a tie this time, sticking to his plain blue collared shirt. He still left his hat at home, though. Lorelai kept it simple as well, but still looked her best. Neither of them had gotten a full night's rest, on the count of Jaiden's night terrors had increased which Lorelai made sure to inform Celia of. Unfortunately, she also had to inform her of the incident involving Jaiden and Doula. It didn't come as a surprise to the woman, but Celia was sympathetic about the whole thing, glad Doula was alright.

Luke was kind of glad the diner was in one of its lulls at the moment, because he could hardly focus while he was working. Thankfully, Lorelai had Sookie to talk to. At least about how she was feeling, sharing the bare minimum she could. Sookie helped her keep it together without losing it, as Lorelai talked the fastest she had ever talked. Not even coffee could help in this time of great need.

Even as they drove, Lorelai stared ahead. The jeep was in silence except for the radio. The fact it was Taylor Swift singing was not helping her nerves, singing about how she wants a boy who's already involved with somebody else. Halfway through the song, Luke finally switched the radio to another country station before Lorelai finally erupted, her knuckles turning white from gripping the wheel too hard. It was on a commercial break, but it still helped.

"You sure you don't want me to drive?" Luke asked, looking over at her.

"I'm fine, Luke. I promise," she assured him. It was lie, sort of, though. She wasn't fine. But thankfully, Lorelai was still okay to drive. There wasn't any kind of danger for Luke to have to take over.

They had left early enough to get there with enough time to prepare both themselves and Jaiden. Luke kept twisting around in his seat to check on the kid while Lorelai kept stealing glances up in the rearview mirror. The whole time Lorelai had to restrain herself from forcing Jaiden to talk, though she did remind her, Jaiden could come talk to them whenever she needed to, several times.

The whole ride there, Jaiden stared out the window, clutching her dog and Diego to her. She didn't even sing along to the radio. None of her favorites hadn't played yet, so that probably had something to do with it. Though, Miley Cyrus' _The Climb_ eventually did play which Lorelai caught her mouth moving to the words, remembering Rory saying Jaiden had enjoyed the movie the song was from. Lorelai pointed it out to Luke without saying anything, who adjusted his mirror long enough to see for himself before putting it back into position so Lorelai could use it while driving. Eventually, she did need it to change lanes when their exit came up.

Once off the highway, it took another twenty minutes before Lorelai was pulling into the parking lot of the CPS office and parked towards the back. Turning the car off, all three got out with Luke letting Jaiden out. They checked for cars first before making their way up to the front of the building, heading inside.

One elevator ride later, Luke, Lorelai, and Jaiden walked down the hallway where Celia was speaking with Gabrielle.

"Hey, glad you're here," Celia greeted them, cheerfully, and shook both Luke and Lorelai's hands.

Gabrielle also greeted them before turning her attention to Jaiden. "And how are you, Jaiden?"

Jaiden just held onto her toys while staring at the floor.

She just smiled for the little girl. Both Celia and Gabrielle have seen Jaiden since the last meeting. Both woman had to come out to see her in Stars Hollow for their monthly check-in and to see how the little girl was doing. Other than that, Lorelai kept them up to date over the phone and email.

"Is he here yet?" Lorelai was the one to ask, changing the subject, anxiously.

Celia shook her head. "Not yet. But there's still plenty of time before the meeting starts."

Lorelai couldn't help sigh under her breath.

They decided to move into the conference room since they were blocking the hallway, and to sit down. As soon as Luke pulled out his chair, Jaiden headed for her spot under the table, and remained there. He and Lorelai took their seats as well as Celia and Gabrielle.

Gabrielle tried asking Jaiden how she had been, but of course wasn't getting anywhere. So she asked Luke and Lorelai instead. Luke proudly told her about how well Jaiden was doing with ice skating.

Sometime during the conversation, Celia's phone had rang. Lorelai looked over when Celia stepped away. "Yes. One floor above where my office is...yes... Okay… Okay… Yeah, she's here already… Okay, we'll see you in a few." She then hung up, walking back to the table.

Lorelai swallowed as Celia returned and looked underneath the table.

"Jaiden, honey," she said in a gentle voice. "Your grandfather's here. He's on his way up at this moment."

Jaiden's hold on her toys, tightened.

Both Luke and Lorelai pushed their chairs back to look underneath the table.

"It'll be alright, sweetheart," Lorelai assured while Luke's anxiety was starting to skyrocket. Not that hers wasn't. They were both trying to stay strong for the kid. What was surprising was when Jaiden came out from under the table. Cautiously but still.

Time seemed to pass slow as the three of them waited for the door to open. Luke had to lean forward with his arms on his knees, running his hands along his hair and down his face as he took several deep breaths. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Luke felt a soft tap on his knee. He saw it was Jaiden standing there. So, lowing his head, he lent her his ear. But not too close.

"Sing the song, please?" she whispered.

Luke lifted his head to smile. "Of course." He then started to sing to her in a soft tone. Luke was never able to finish, though, because towards the end of the song, there was a firm knock on the door before it opened. Jaiden froze as a man somewhere in his late fifties walked in. His blond hair was thinning out, showing off a large forehead. He wore a white collared, button-up shirt underneath a navy blue blazer and matching slacks. His shoes were black dress shoes older men usually wore. The man wasn't too thin, but wasn't round either.

The man had spotted Celia, first. "Hello, Miss Celia," he greeted, extending out his hand.

"Hello. Welcome, Howard," she returned the greeting, shaking the man's hand. Celia turned to introduce the rest. "This is Lorelai and Luke Danes, Jaiden's foster parents, and Gabrielle Jennings, Jaiden's GAL."

The man, Celia called Howard, shook each of their hands. "Pleasure to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too," Lorelai nodded, trying to sound as welcoming as she could while Luke remained silent, glaring at the guy who was a couple feet taller than he was.

Howard then diverted his attention to the youngest person in the room. "This can't be my little gem, can it?" He smiled down at the little girl, who remained motionless, staring at the floor again. "Well, what are you waiting for? Aren't you going to give your Papa a hug, hello?"

Jaiden hesitated which Luke was quick to assure her, "you don't have to do anything you don't want to, sweetie," as he continued to glare over at the older man.

But Howard ignored him. "Jaiden Presley Reece, you should know it's rude to ignore your elders. I've missed you and haven't seen you in almost five years. The least you can do is come say hello." At that, Jaiden slowly lifted her head to look up at her grandfather. "Thank you," he told her and with a smile, extended his hands out to her. Timidly, Jaiden made her way over and allowed him to lift her onto his side.

Luke instantly got on edge as he watched the older man lift Jaiden up and then kissed her cheek, seeing her body tense up upon the touch. "You have grown so much since the last I'd seen you. You're just as pretty as your mom, you know that? However, what is this you are wearing? This isn't what a young lady should wear."

Jaiden sucked in her lip, dropping her gaze.

Howard lifted her chin with the side of his finger, forcing her to look him in the eye. "I don't know what they let you get away with, but we'll make sure to fix that. Is that understood?"

She nodded, her chin still being held.

"I can't hear you," he told her in a firm voice.

"Y-yes, Papa," she replied, hoarsely.

He smiled. "Good. You know Papa loves you, right?"

She nodded.

"Can't hear you."

"Yes."

At that, Howard kissed her cheek once more before setting her back down. The whole time, Luke's heart raced and his hands, he held at his sides, were clenched into fists, ready to pounce at the slight hint of trouble. Lorelai wasn't doing any better either. Her heart was beating so fast it sounded like it was thumping in her ears.

The door opened once more as Erica stepped into the room. She noticed Howard standing there, who turned to introduce himself.

The moment her grandfather's attention was elsewhere, Luke kneeled to Jaiden's level, quietly calling her over. His emotions softened for the little girl, who made her way over.

"You alright, sweetie?" he asked her.

Jaiden gave a timid nod.

Lorelai joined her husband, kneeling to her level. "You sure, sweetheart?"

Again, Jaiden gave another nod of her head. Luke sang another verse for her, to help calm her nerves. Once Jerry showed, the team started the meeting, each taking a seat. When Jaiden tried returning to her spot underneath the table, her grandfather scolded her.

"Jaiden Presley, sit in a seat." Jaiden jumped so high from the firmness of the man's voice, she bumped her head on the table. Lorelai quickly made sure she was alright, giving Jaiden a hand up. Luke stood to his feet, offering to let Jaiden take his chair while he grabbed a spare no one was sitting in, scooting the chair up to the table for her. With her motherly impulses kicking in, Lorelai gave her a quick kiss on the head to help it feel better.

"Are you alright, Gem?" Howard asked of Jaiden, now more sympathetic.

"Y-yes," she quietly replied, trying to meet his gaze.

"Good," he nodded in satisfaction. "Now, sit up straight, please." Jaiden sat in the same position she did at dinner with the Gilmores.

Celia started the meeting, welcoming everyone before starting the introductions. Luke and Lorelai were ready this time, somewhat less nervous than the first time. Luke gave Jaiden a moment to give her a chance to speak before going, but was cut off.

"Young lady, you are testing my patience," Howard told her, firmly.

"Back off," Lorelai finally told the man off, unable to hold her tongue any longer. "It's not easy for Jaiden to speak up. If she doesn't want to, she doesn't have to."

But Howard continued to ignore them, keeping his focus on Jaiden. "Young lady, state who you are, this instant."

"J-Jaiden," she squeaked out.

"Thank you," he told her, receiving glares from both Luke and Lorelai. They noticed Erica was already making notes in her lined yellow pad. The introductions were continued with Luke going next. Gabrielle went after him before Howard took his turn.

"I am Howard Reece, and I am Jaiden's grandfather," he stated with his hands folded on the table, also sitting up straight before turning it over to Jerry, who went last.

Once the introductions were out of the way, Celia read the report she had written on how Jaiden was doing since the last CFT meeting. The report mentioned all of Jaiden's successes in school and her progress living in the Danes' care. It also mentioned Jaiden continuing to meet with Erica every week.

"Regardless, Jaiden is slowly coming to her own and has shown interest in ice skating lessons she has been taking with the foster father, Luke Danes, and has even rekindled her interest in drawing again. Gabrielle Jennings, the GAL, has looked into art classes over the summer if that is Jaiden's desire, for the time being, though she has also shown interest in the sport, hockey which have led to the ice skating lessons. For the time being, we are holding off Jaiden participating on a team, but would be considered some time in the future if Jaiden continues to do well. Even with opening up to her foster parents, Jaiden has yet to share anything about her past. Though, the possibility of sexual abuse has arose in the last two months, no evidence can further prove it to be true. However, as of April 2009, we have discovered the whereabouts of the grandfather, Howard Reece, who has requested custody of Jaiden, and has met all requirements so far in gaining said custody. Going forward, visits will begin, starting with two visits per week here at the office to monitor their interactions, then to one on one day visits, and if all goes well, overnight visits."

A feeling of a stone dropping in the pit of Lorelai's stomach happened when she heard there could be overnight visits with this man. Her eyes closed as she leaned her forehead against her folded hands. Lorelai did not even want to think about Jaiden having to sleep over with this man. In fact, the feeling made her want to rush to the restroom to throw up her lunch.

"The outbursts are still happening, now becoming verbally, and has even lashed out with harsh words. The biting and hitting also continues, most recently, on Wednesday, May sixth when another child had grabbed her toy without permission."

Luke, who was listening, couldn't help notice Howard kept shooting a firm stare over towards Jaiden whenever Celia mentioned the troubles she was having. He too kept a firm stare, but over in the man's direction.

"Overall, Jaiden's incredible progress tops all of the bad and hope it continues while in the care of her current foster placement." Celia finished reading the report, lifting her head to look out at everyone there.

Jerry was cleaning his glasses with a piece of cloth when she finished. "I have to admit, I am impressed of Jaiden's progress. I was not expecting it at all, and cheers to both of you," he nodded over at Luke and Lorelai, who thanked him. Jerry held his glasses over the table as he leaned against the edge. "I am very glad things turned out better than we thought they would. However, having found the grandfather does put a damper on the original plans. Since a relative have been found, adoption can no longer be an option."

"You can't possibly think sending Jaiden to live with this guy is best for her, can you?" Lorelai was quick to react. "She freaks out almost every time he's mentioned."

"I am well aware of the reactions, Mrs. Danes. However, I am also aware that Jaiden has yet to affirm these suspicions. I am humbly sorry it had to go this way, but it looks like you are no more than just her foster parents, I'm afraid."

Lorelai just about wanted to jump over the table. Luke had to reach over to gently touch her arm to keep her from doing so. "But, that's the thing. Why can't we go on her reactions? Jaiden clearly did not want anything to do with her grandfather the first time we mentioned him coming back into her life. Isn't that proof enough already?"

He shook his head. "I am afraid not. We need Jaiden's word, or at least a head motion, or in written form."

Howard semi raised his hand. "Can I say something, here?"

"Yes, you may," Celia gave the say so.

"I am appalled of the accusations I am getting in this room when there is only one person who knows me, and she knows I would _never ever_ think of touching her. She is my only granddaughter and though, yes, I admit, I am old fashioned and can be strict, I do love her very much." Howard turned towards Jaiden, once again. "Right, Gem?"

Jaiden's body tensed up once more, but nodded her head. "Papa loves me," she murmured softly, but where everyone at the table could still hear her.

He smiled at that. "That's right."

Celia leaned forward on her arms, exchanging a quick look with Luke and Lorelai. It was clear she wasn't buying it either. "Jaiden, honey," she turned her attention to the little girl. "How do _you_ feel about the possibility of going to live with your grandfather? Is that something you would be okay with?"

Glad Celia was on their side, Lorelai leaned closer to assure Jaiden, "It's alright, sweetheart. Say whatever is on your mind. How you feel," when the kid began sucking on her lip.

"If it were up to you, would you like to go live with your grandfather?" The room was silent as everyone waited to see if Jaiden would answer. Because she had to sit with her hands in her lap, her toys were on the seat behind her.

Lorelai leaned in closer once more. "There's no pressure, sweetheart. It's your choice, no one else's. Just say what's on your heart. Don't worry about mine, or Luke's, or your grandfather's, or anybody else in this room."

While waiting, Luke studied the man sitting across from Jaiden, eyeing him, closely. Howard was staring intently at her. It was like he expected Jaiden to say what he wanted her to say.

Finally, Howard spoke. "Jaiden, they are waiting for an answer. Of course you want to come live with me. I'm sure I can offer you a lot more than they can. The best schools. I can even find you the best art class if that's what you want."

"Uh, for your info, my parents would be willing to help out with her education and even art classes, thank you very much." Why Lorelai had said that, she had no clue. Her parents had already done enough, helping with Rory's education. Lorelai did not want to go through that again and didn't have any intentions on repeating it. But the guy was just making her so angry that she would say anything to counter his words.

This time, Howard glared at her.

"That is enough," Jerry broke things up before it got ugly. "Celia asked Jaiden a question. Nobody else should be speaking except for Jaiden. So please respect that." He was looking at both Lorelai and Howard. Things fell silent once again, letting Jaiden respond.

After a few more minutes, Jaiden timidly nodded.

"Yes, you would be okay going to live with your grandfather?" Celia asked, making sure.

Again, she nodded, timidly.

"Are you sure?"

Lorelai looked at the little girl, sadly. "Jaiden," she said, about close to tears. But Jaiden continued to nod.

"Um, okay," said Celia, looking between Jerry, Erica, and Gabrielle. "So, the case will be switched to reunification with the grandfather." Each of them made a note of that while Lorelai dropped her face in her hands.

Theirs fears were coming true. Her and Luke were going to lose Jaiden.

"So, that's it?" she asked, lifting her head. "We don't have any say?"

Celia looked up from her yellow pad. "I know this is hard after everything you've both worked hard for, and I know you've grown attached to Jaiden. But family comes first. We have to give Howard a chance. There's still time to spend with her before the hearing. Remember, the judge makes the final decision, not us."

Lorelai slowly started to breathe when she heard Jaiden wasn't going anywhere yet. They still had time to hopefully get Jaiden to open up more. That is until Jerry spoke up once again.

"Hold on, Celia," he told her. "If the new goal is for Jaiden to go home with her grandfather, there cannot be any attachment with the current placement. Which means, Jaiden will need to be removed from the Danes' care." That lifted both Luke and Lorelai's attention.

"No!" both of them cried out.

Celia looked over at her supervisor, nervously. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"It's a terrible idea," Lorelai added her two sense, irritably.

"I mean, they've been the only ones who has had the closest luck with Jaiden. An attachment's already started."

"I understand, and I wish it didn't have to be this way, but that's the rules. Things will be even harder, later down the line if Jaiden goes home with her grandfather." Jerry turned to Lorelai. "I'm sorry."

"You can't be serious?" Lorelai questioned of him. "You can't take her away. Not when she's doing so well. All of our friends and family love her, my sister in law wants to spend time with her. Our older girls already see her as a little sister. We love her. Jaiden's already part of our family. You take her, it'll mess everything up."

"I understand this is difficult," he nodded towards Lorelai. "We all appreciate what you've done, don't doubt that. But we have to focus on forming a relationship with Howard, here, and we can't let anything distract from that."

"So, you're just gonna give this man the benefit of the doubt? Just like that?"

"There's really no proof, Lorelai," Erica reminded her, "and Jaiden continues to say no. We have to move forward with this."

Lorelai stared at the woman right beside her. She then switched over to Celia, who gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry, Lorelai. It's out of my hands," she told her.

Dropping her gaze towards the table, Lorelai could feel her face grow hot as she fought back the tears. Luke leaned a hand over, in front of Jaiden, apologizing to her in the process, to place a comforting hand on Lorelai's arm. He gave it a loving squeeze. Suddenly, she bolted up from the table and hurried out of the room, heading in the direction of the restrooms.

Lorelai shoved against the door to the ladies' room, going straight to the sink. Turning it on, she splashed some water on her face before just bursting into tears. They came this far just to end up with nothing? Maybe her mother was right, maybe they should have considered an infant instead of taking on an older child. Or adopting from an orphanage in another country. They were so sure this would work out, that Jaiden could be a part of their family. But now they were going to lose her and Lorelai couldn't go through something like that. It literally felt like she was losing one of her own children.

Luke had watched his wife run out of the room. He wanted to go after her, but also did not want to leave Jaiden there, by herself. Luke was torn on what to do. Both of his girls needed him, and he was only one person. Finally, he whispered to Jaiden, he would be right back, quickly kissing the side of her head as he stood to his feet, letting the rest know as well.

Hurrying from the room, Luke went in search of Lorelai, checking the restroom when he came to it.

"Lorelai, you in there?" he called through the door.

The door shortly opened. Relief washed over him when he saw it was his wife. When she stepped out, Luke pulled her in. It was tough but he remained strong for his girls, assuring they'd figure something out. Jaiden wasn't going anywhere and if she did leave, it wouldn't be for long.

Once Lorelai was able to compose herself, they headed back to the conference room where they were discussing Jaiden's academic success.

Gabrielle passed a box of Kleenexes down in case Lorelai still needed them.

When she sat back down, Lorelai noticed Jaiden steal a look up at her, but quickly looked away. Lorelai just smiled for the little girl. The rest of the meeting finished up in another thirty or so minutes. Celia came over when everyone stood up and pushed in their chairs.

"I am so sorry about this," she apologized to them.

"Don't apologize," Lorelai told her, waving it off with her hand. "It's not your fault."

"I know, but I still feel like I should. I mean, you've done so much. I was really rooting for you."

"Isn't there anything we can do?" Luke wasn't ready to give up, wanting to do anything.

Celia shrugged. "I'm not really sure what you can do. As we've said, if Jaiden decides to come forward and say differently about her grandfather, then yes. But. who's to say her grandfather did do something. I mean, there's a chance he could be telling the truth."

"Do you really believe that?"

"Well…" Celia paused for a second. "No, honestly." She let out a sigh. "Listen, I'll be by your place at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. That should give you enough time to help her pack and say good-bye."

"Thanks," said Lorelai, now fighting back the tears once more.

When they turned to leave, Howard was walking over to them.

"Jaiden, you weren't going to leave without saying good-bye, were you?" He held his arms out to her once more. Jaiden hesitated before timidly making her way over. Howard lifted her up in a hug, giving her cheek a big kiss. "Behave and do as you're told." He placed her back on her feet.

Jaiden nodded, but with another reminder, squeaked out, "Yes, Papa."

"Good girl."

Lorelai walked up beside the little girl. "Let's go, sweetheart," she said, gently, glancing over at her grandfather to shoot him a glare. Luke followed after his girls, giving Howard a warning look as he walked by, who just stared back causally.

The car ride was silent yet again, but for a completely different reason. On the way home, a Tim McGraw song played this time that hit Luke hard when it asked why they say grown men don't cry. Now, he was really fighting back the tears, trying to remain tough. But it was just as tough trying to stay tough.

Lorelai could see the struggle as she watched him rub at his eyes in one hand, his elbow on the door. "Luke, it's okay to shed a tear or two," she pointed out.

"I'm not. I got dust in my eyes," he lied.

She just smiled. "Sure, dude. Sure." At least Luke denying his own emotions could make her laugh instead of losing it again, herself.

Once Lorelai pulled into the driveway and everyone stepped out of the jeep, Jaiden headed straight for her treehouse. However, she never came back down, not even when Lorelai came out to suggest ordering dinner in and renting a movie.

"Jaiden?" For fifteen minutes, Lorelai called up there. She climbed up to knock a few times. Still no answer, not even when she knocked louder and harder. Then she pushed on the latch to open it herself. Something was on top of it, preventing the latch from lifting. "Jaiden, sweetheart. Please don't shut us out. We'll think of something. I promise." She continued to call up there. "Jaiden." Lorelai knocked some more, now starting to worry. "Sweetheart, please… Sweetheart, please open up. Please?"

Eventually, Luke had finally wandered out onto the porch after having to break the news to April, who had called to see how the meeting went. April was just as heartbroken as they could be losing the kid.

Luke wondered why his other two girls hadn't come in yet. He saw Lorelai on the tree ladder, knocking, frantically and heard her call out for Jaiden, pleading with her. Sensing something was wrong, Luke leaped off the porch and hurried over.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Glancing down at him, Lorelai climbed down. "Jaiden's holed herself up in her treehouse and won't come down." She motioned up towards the treehouse. "I've tried everything."

Upon hearing that, Luke immediately sprung up the tree ladder next and tried to push on the latch. Being a guy and stronger than Lorelai, he was able to lift the latch about half an inch. "I think she's got the table over it," he said, looking down at her.

Lorelai looked up at him, her arms folded lightly. "You can't lift it off?"

"I can, but I don't know where Jaiden is. If I push it up all the way, the table could fall on top of her," Luke explained.

"Aw jeez," Lorelai muttered out loud, looking off at nothing in particular, shaking her head.

Luke tried calling up to Jaiden and tried to talk her down, but not even he was successful. All the noise eventually brought Babette and Morey outside, wondering what was going on. Lorelai explained what happened during the meeting and that tonight was Jaiden's last night.

"Oh, sugar. I'm so sorry," Babette told her. Even she looked heartbroken to see Jaiden go.

"So, uncool," Morey added in his usual tone.

Lorelai forced a smile for them. "Thanks, guys."

The older couple wished them the best and tried to ask if there was anything they could do. Lorelai politely thanked them again, but declined, not really sure what they could do. After they left, Luke and Lorelai continued to try and coax Jaiden out of her treehouse, but nothing seemed to be working. Not this time. Luke eventually headed inside to grab some water when his voice got too hoarse.

"You coming?" he asked.

"No, I think I'm gonna stay out here with her."

Luke touched her upper arm, affectionately. He then headed inside.

When he was gone, Lorelai wandered closer, watching her feet. With her back to the tree, she sat down and held her arms on top of her upturned knees. As Lorelai scanned her surroundings, that's when the tears returned, filling her eyes. Pulling out her phone, she went into her contacts and called Rory.

"Hey, kid," she said into the phone when Rory answered.

"Mom? What's wrong? Is it Jaiden? What happened?"

"Her grandfather won. That's it, I guess."

"What? How?"

Lorelai told her daughter everything that happened during the meeting. At this point, she didn't even care about case confidentiality. Lorelai needed to talk to her best friend.

"Oh, Mom. I'm so sorry." She could hear Rory sniff in a little.

"I just don't know what to do at this point." Her voice was pretty much breaking at this point.

"But weren't you told of these risks? Of the adoption falling through?"

"It's not about the adoption falling through. If Jaiden had a miraculous reunion with her real mom, or found a relative who would actually take care of her and love her, I'd be okay with that. It would still be hard letting go, but knowing she'd be safe would give me more peace of mind. Knowing Jaiden will be going home with the man who took her innocence... It's killing me. A kid should never have to endure something like that. They just shouldn't."

"I know and I agree. But are we really sure it's the grandfather? Maybe he really is just a strict guy, and a foster father was the one who did this to her, or maybe the mother had a boyfriend. Or, possibly it wasn't even a guy. A woman could have done something. If Jaiden hates to be alone with her therapist, that could be why."

Lorelai wiped her eye before leaning her hand over her knee. She sniffed in. "No, it can't be her therapist. I've noticed a security camera in the corner of the room on the ceiling. I'm sure someone would have noticed something was going on. I think Jaiden doesn't like her because she's kind of pushy and judges on the tiniest things. You should have seen her when we rented an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. The kid looked like that pup from _101 Dalmations_ who always sat in front of the TV and had to be scolded to get down. It was kind of cute, actually." Lorelai forced a laugh.

"Yeah, it's not too late to see it, though," Rory said, trying to sound cheerful. "Just because they take her, doesn't mean she'll be gone for good. There will still be a chance to get her back, I'm sure."

She wiped a hand across her nose as she sniffed in this time. "Not really too sure. But I like to hope so."

"Yeah. I mean, it's only over if you let it be over. If anyone should know that it's you, when it comes to fighting for something you really want. When has anything ever been easy for us?"

Lorelai couldn't help smile at that. "Yeah, you're right, hun. I just don't want to think about Jaiden being alone and unprotected."

"You weren't always there to protect her. Remember, Jaiden spent the first eight years without you, and will eventually be out on her own again. Usually a kid is at least eighteen, but after everything the kid's probably been through, has made her the strongest person we probably know. That said, I don't think I ever expected my little sis to possibly be another role model of mine. The stuff Jaiden's had to endure can't be easy for anybody, but for her to still be here to meet you and Luke? That had to take real strength, and I'm sure Jaiden having to go away again will possibly bring the three of you even closer together. I mean, look at you and Luke. You've had some ups and downs over the years, and there was a time when you didn't even speak to each other, but you still made it to the wedding. Relationships take work, and only true love can keep people together and withstand any trial."

Lorelai wiped away more tears. She thought about that Martina McBride song as she listened to her daughter and what Jaiden could be holding back, not to mention what's causing her to hold back.

"You see what I'm getting at, Mom?"

"Yeah, I get'cha, hun."

"Just don't give up, Mom. You haven't so far and you shouldn't now. A kid like Jaiden needs that love and determination from someone to show her what family is all about."

She smiled. Rory was right, and Lorelai knew it. She was still worried and freaked out, but talking it out did help her feel a little bit better. Mother and daughter finished their conversation before finally hanging up, sometime later. Lorelai closed her phone. As she stared at the ground at nothing in particular, she held her arms across her knees, deep in thought.

After a moment, she let out a sigh. "Hey, uh, God," Lorelai spoke after another few minutes went by. "I know we don't speak much, and I don't usually ask for favors, and I'm sure You're busy doing whatever it is You do up there. Playing Poker with the angels or something, so I won't keep You." She let out another forced chuckle. "Please don't let Jaiden have to go through the pain she's already had to endure. Help her see we love and care about her. I know it's him. The way she gets, I know it's her grandfather. Don't let him get her back. Please?"

Lorelai rested her forehead against her arms. Suddenly, she felt something like a blanket being draped across her back which caused her to jump out of her skin. She bolted up to look at who it was to see Luke kneeled beside her. "Geez. You scared the crap out of me," she told him, briefly dropping her forehead back on her arms before looking up at him again.

"Sorry," he apologized. "Just thought you might be cold." Luke maneuvered his legs out from under him to sit beside her.

"What are you doing?" Lorelai asked of him, watching in confusion.

"Well, if you two are gonna sit out here all night, I'm not gonna let ya do it alone," Luke insisted.

"We are not gonna sit out here all night."

"You know what I mean."

She smiled. However, Lorelai had never been so wrong.

The hours went by and eventually the sun setted over the small town and Jaiden still hadn't come out. When it got late into the night, both Luke and Lorelai each tried one more time to get the little girl to come down so they could head inside. Luke had even gotten the ladder from the garage and used it to peer through one of the windows.

Jaiden was huddled in the far corner, staring at nothing as she held onto her toys. Thankfully, she was wrapped in two of the blankets Lorelai had placed up there. But when Luke tried to call out to her, Jaiden just ignored him. So, he had no choice but to climb back down, and the couple did end up spending the night out there, wrapped together in the blanket Luke had brought out.

The next morning, they were awakened by the sprinklers coming on, squirting them in the face. Luke and Lorelai instantly leaped to their feet and made a dash for the porch, away from the ice cold shower they just received against their will. Thankfully, with it being May, it wasn't that cold in the early morning, or last night for that manner. So it wasn't enough to catch cold, especially wrapped up. It was mostly a surprise when the sprinklers came on.

Heading inside while the sprinklers ran, Luke and Lorelai showered and changed into fresh clothes. After the sprinklers were done watering the grass, Lorelai headed back outside, climbing up the ladder Luke had left there. Jaiden was still fast asleep, still huddled in the far corner. The kid had to be starving. She was. Neither of them had eaten since coming home from the meeting. Lorelai wasn't even sure how Jaiden hadn't had the urge to use the bathroom.

Like Celia had promised, she pulled up at ten sharp that morning. She walked over where Luke was now on the ladder again, trying to coax Jaiden down, who was now had him come down so she could give it a try, climbing up there in his place.

"Jaiden, honey. We have to go. Can you please come out of there?" Celia asked of her in a gentle voice. "I found you a temporary foster home for now while we work things out with possibly finding a therapeutic group home that can help you more." It took some doing and Lorelai had to head inside, forcing herself to pack Jaiden's backpack for her.

When she found the sketchbook, Lorelai couldn't help flip through it, to look at some of the stuff Jaiden had drawn. A few had caught her attention of what looked like Jaiden, huddled in a corner while sitting on a bed. Her face was buried in her arms on top of her knees. If only they showed the perpetrator, but none of them did. They were all of her. Except for one that looked like an angel statue people used as tombstones. There was a plaque towards the bottom that Jaiden had written her name inside the small square. It made Lorelai think of that Martina McBride song again.

Another also caught her interest. It was a drawing of their family. Her, Luke, and even Rory and April, and even Liz, TJ, and Doula. Even Emily and Richard were there. At the top of the page, though, it said, _family?_ Like maybe Jaiden was hoping they would be the family she wanted and needed.

Wiping away fresh tears, Lorelai grabbed Jaiden's pencil and wrote _yes_ before closing it and stuffed the sketchbook into Jaiden's backpack before zipping it closed. She then headed back outside. Celia had finally gotten Jaiden to come down and was leading her over to where she was parked. More fresh tears appeared in her eyes as Lorelai watched them.

Choking back a sob, Lorelai made her way over. Celia took the backpack from her and opened the car door to the back seat.

Luke tried to move over and wrap his arm around his wife, but right as Jaiden was about to climb in, Lorelai hurried over to grab onto her arm, pulling the little girl back.

"Jaiden, sweetheart. I know you're scared and your grandfather has some kind of hold over you. You don't have to protect him. I know he hurt you. All you have to do is tell us, sweetie and I promise he will never hurt you again."

Luke stepped forward to pull Lorelai away, reminding her of what he had said about forcing Jaiden, but Lorelai fought off his hand and focused on Jaiden.

"We can be that family you want, sweetheart. _You need._ All you have to do is tell us. Please, sweetheart. It's okay. It's okay."

Jaiden stared at her as Lorelai was pretty much breaking down right there in front of her.

"We love you, Jaiden. We really do love you, I can promise you that. You don't even have to say anything, or nod or shake your head. You can draw us a picture if you want. Anything you want. Just please, let us help you. Please." Lorelai reached a hand out to touch her arm. But Jaiden suddenly smacked it away.

"No, get away!" she yelled out in an outburst. "I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU! Just go die already!" This time, spit flew out of the kid's mouth as Jaiden screamed out and flailed her arms out in front of her towards Lorelai. One even collided with her head, but Lorelai ignored the pain and tried to catch her arms.

"It's okay, sweetheart. It's okay. I still love you. Nothing you say or do could ever change that fact." But Jaiden just continued to flail her arms and scream out hateful words. Celia ended up having to step in and break things apart. She guided the disgruntled kid into the back seat before closing the door. Jaiden immediately curled into a ball on the seat. It made Lorelai's heart break into a billion pieces.

Turning back around, Celia faced her. She had picked up Jaiden's toys the kid had dropped. "Again, I can't say how sorry I am. Really," she told both her and Luke, sympathetically. "I wish there was something I could do. But maybe there is something you could do."

That got Lorelai's attention real quick. "What is it?" she asked eagerly.

Celia held onto the dog in her arms as she stared at it. She looked up as she said, "I've been doing some thinking, about how you're been able to get Jaiden to speak, even if it was a few words. If Jaiden can't tell us maybe there's somebody else who could."

Luke asked, "And who's that?"

Celia looked over at him. "Her mother."

"What?" Neither of them understood what the woman was getting at.

"None of us has been able to get through to Jaiden's mother to get her to cooperate and tell us anything, not really. Not me, not the therapists and doctors at the hospital she resides at. But with the progress you've both made with Jaiden, something's telling me you might be able to reach her, at least a little more than what we can. Plus, you were both single moms," she pointed out to Lorelai. "I don't know for sure if it would work, but that's really all I can think of to do." Celia gave a short shrug.

"What hospital is she at?" Lorelai asked.

"New Haven psych. Just tell them I sent you."

Lorelai nodded. "Okay. I'll see what I can do." It was a longshot, but at least it was something. Like Rory had said, it was only over if they let it be over. "Thank you."

"No problem," Celia assured her. "And look, I've found a great foster couple. They're one of my younger ones that still play video games, but they're also one of my best. I love them, and they have two cats which is a plus since Jaiden does well in homes with pets, as I mentioned before. I know Stephen and Mallory will take great care of Jaiden while we sort through this, and I will try my best to take my time finding her another group home."

"And I'll go down to New Haven as soon as possible, too," Lorelai nodded in agreement. Having somewhat of a plan did help relieve some worry, just a little. But watching Celia pull away from their house with Jaiden, still killed them.

Luke wrapped an arm around Lorelai as they watched the car pull away. What caught Lorelai's attention was hearing Luke sniff in. When she looked up at him, a tear was drifting down one side of his face.

"It's not good-bye, Luke. You'll see." She was not just reassuring Luke, but herself as well. They had to get this kid back. There was no doubt about it. They were family.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Just one note of interest. I know I don't have a frequent upload schedule, and I can upload anywhere from a couple of days to a couple weeks. Just understand that I work during the week, plus life gets in the way that prolongs how long it takes me to write, and that goes for all my stories, not just this one. Also, sometimes I end up unsatisfied to how a chapter has turned out and sometimes will rewrite it over and over until I am satisfied even if that means adding another few days to the wait time. I rewrote the chapter with the dinner at the Gilmores, 2-3 times before I finally uploaded it. I don't mean to make everyone wait "forever" but I try to make the best work I can possibly make. I hope you understand and I will try to have the next chapter out whenever I can. Thank you as always for reading and for your patience!**_


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Lorelai stood on the sidewalk in front of New Haven hospital. Never having actually seen one outside of movies and TV, she wasn't sure what to expect. After Jaiden was picked up, Lorelai had gotten straight to business contacting the hospital as soon as possible and set up an appointment first thing Monday morning when visiting hours started. Luke had tried to insist on coming along, not too sure on the thought of his wife alone in a psychiatric hospital. Lorelai thought it was best if she went on her own; the less people involved, hopefully the better. Plus, like Celia said, they were both single mothers and would be able to better connect with her. Luke tried to point out he had been a single father, but Lorelai still thought it was best if just she went.

"Besides, don't you have a thing with being in hospitals?" she pointed out.

Luke was silent at that, remembering how the smells and sights made him sick to his stomach. Even if there wasn't any horrific sights such as stab wounds, there would still be the smells and Luke would like to keep down whatever he ate that morning. He still wasn't too sure on letting Lorelai go alone, but she reassured him it would be fine. Pretty sure, TV has exaggerated on how these things actually are.

So, here she was. Taking a deep breath through her nose, Lorelai made her way inside the main entrance, going up to the front desk to check in. She had to leave her purse with the receptionist sitting there. Lorelai was then led down a hallway by a young man with short, blond hair combed to stick up in the front with hair gel and wore thin-framed glasses. He was a little more than thin and wore seafoam green scrubs.

"You were informed of the requirements, right?" he asked Lorelai, looking over where she walked about an inch behind him, trying to keep the same pace.

"Yep, all squeaky clean." Lorelai gave him a causal nod. When setting up the appointment, the woman she talked to had told her to make sure she showered both the night before and that morning as well, making sure to scrub and lather, more than once. Also to use a mouth wash and to make sure to floss. Lorelai had asked if that was part of the hospital's requirement for guests visiting, but it wasn't. It was the personal requirement of seeing Katherine Reese, otherwise, she would refuse access to anyone entering her room.

Eventually, they came to a door. Before the young man knocked, he reminded Lorelai to remove her shoes and to put on a pair of socks she had brought. Once that was taken care of, he let her inside once he informed Katherine of her visitor.

Lorelai quickly peered around the small room as she stepped inside, taking in her surroundings. What was scary was how much it resembled a room in her parents' house if their house was a hospital room that had bars on the windows. It made her wonder if her mother had ever gotten the idea of putting bars on her windows. Lorelai probably wouldn't have Rory if she did. Thank God for that one.

Katherine had been sitting in a flower-printed arm chair that was wrapped in plastic. Another personal preference of hers. She set down the book she had been reading to rise to her feet.

Lorelai immediately held her hand out to shake the woman's hand. "Hi, Katherine. I'm Lorelai."

Without returning the handshake, she asked Lorelai, "Are your hands clean?"

"They gave me some hand sanitizer at the front desk," Lorelai pointed back over her shoulder.

"Showered both last night and this morning?"

"Scrubbed and lathered several times, every nook and cranny," she replied, lightheartedly.

Katherine was unmoved. She stood there with her arms firmly crossed. "Face washed?"

"Yes."

"Teeth brushed, flossed, and rinsed with mouth wash?"

"Yes, yes, and rinsed very generously. I showed those germs no mercy." Lorelai chuckled.

"Don't be cute," the woman told her, still unmoved.

Lorelai cleared her throat, glancing away at the floor. "Sorry."

Stealing a look at her socked feet, Katherine asked, "Those are clean socks, right?"

"Right." She shook her head once, "didn't even wear them here. Just put them on now."

Katherine looked over at the young man that was still standing in the doorway. "She's clear."

He nodded. "Great. I will be right outside if you ladies need anything." The young man then stepped out, shutting the door behind him. The walls were thin so everything that would be said in that room could still be heard. Plus, there was a camera on the high ceiling.

Lorelai turned back to the woman, who offered her a seat, after finally returning the handshake. The options were anywhere that was covered in plastic which were two matching arm chairs. Katherine took the one she had been sitting in while Lorelai took the other.

"So, let me guess," she began first. "You're another therapist wanting to "crack" me." Katherine used air quotes with her fingers.

"Uh, no. Actually I'm here for your help," Lorelai told her.

Katherine looked surprised at that statement. "My help?"

"That's right," she nodded.

"In regard to…?"

"Jaiden, your daughter," Lorelai could not help but study the woman, noticing how much Jaiden resembled her mother in everything but their eyes. Unlike Jaiden's completely separate two color eyes, Katherine's was just pure blue like hers. Guess Jaiden's father had green eyes to pass on to his daughter.

"What about her?" Katherine asked, crossing her arms across her chest once more, as well as cross one leg over the other.

"Well, my husband and I, we've known Jaiden for the past couple of months and have made some really great progress, especially with him. It's really incredible considering her fear of grown men. I don't know how he did it, but they've both been able to bond over playing hockey, and helping him in the kitchen, and he's even been giving her ice skating lessons."

Aside from crossing her arms and legs, Katherine was sitting in a stiff, upright manner, holding a proper posture. "Get to the point," she insisted, somewhat confused.

"My point is, even though we've made great progress, we still ended up losing her," Lorelai said. "You see, your father was found and wants custody of Jaiden, and has top priority because he's a blood relative."

Katherine was silent for a moment. After a minute, she shrugged, nonchalantly, "and what do you want me to do about it? I surrendered all of my rights a long time ago to the state of Connecticut. I have no say what happens to her now."

"But you do still have a voice," Lorelai tried to point out.

"A voice for what?"

"Our whole family has been involved in trying to help Jaiden warm up to us and open up about what happened. My father even bought books on the matter." Lorelai paused to swallow. "He ended up finding a chapter that describes the characteristics Jaiden shows, and it was the possibility she might've been sexually abused at some point."

Katherine's gaze dropped, turning to stare at the white, hard floor.

"We think it might've been your father because of how she reacts whenever we ask her about him, but Jaiden refuses to give him up. I know deep down inside you must care for your daughter and must have noticed something was going on between them." She gave the woman a hopeful look.

Katherine lifted her gaze to ask, "You do realize you're talking to a mother who tried to kill her own daughter with a kitchen knife, right?"

"But you didn't," she insisted. "You could have gone through with it, but you decided not to. That should count for something."

Katherine stared at Lorelai for a good while before standing to her feet. She made her way over to the window, crossing her arms once more. Lorelai watched her with an urgency. Like she was on a time crunch or something and tried to search for more words to say that would get through to Jaiden's mother. From the back, Katherine looked like an exact clone, as if it were Jaiden standing there, but older.

"I'm not trying to upset you or anything, and I'm sorry if I have. It's just… The thought of your father getting his hands on Jaiden again… Did you notice anything at all?"

Katherine still remained silent as she stared out the window. Her back remained towards Lorelai, but still exceptionally straight.

"I'm not here to judge you if that's what you're afraid of," Lorelai tried to encourage her. "I know how it is, being a single mother. I got pregnant at sixteen and ran away from home after my daughter was born. I raised her all on my own without asking for any help from anyone. Not until she was in high school and I needed help paying the tuition so she could get into Harvard, even though she ended up going to Yale instead. But still, she got into a great college and now has a journalism career in New York." Lorelai paused, waiting to see if Katherine would say anything. Finally, she did.

"You really think you know what I went through?" she questioned in a bitter tone.

"I mean, I don't know your own personal struggles, but the point I was trying to make is that it's hard and stressful at times, and sometimes you hit dead ends and you have to make sacrifices to make sure they're taken care of." Lorelai heard Katherine scoff. "Please. Anything you could think of that might help us would be really appreciated. Maybe it could even bring you one step closer of getting out of this place, too."

Katherine finally moved again, uncrossing her arms. But she didn't turn around. Instead, she stepped forward, even closer to the window. "I ran away when I turned eighteen," Katherine finally admitted.

"Was that when Jaiden was born?" Lorelai asked. The woman looked older than her twenties. There was no way she was younger.

She shook her head. "Jaiden wasn't born until long after I graduated from Harvard."

Lorelai perked up at Katherine mentioning she was a Harvard graduate. "You went to Harvard?"

"Received a MBA degree."

"That's great. Your parents must have been proud."

Lorelai heard her scoff again. "They would have if it weren't for the fact I took off and didn't check in the whole time I attended. It would have been nice to at least have my mother there, watching me on graduation day."

"What happened? For you to run away, I mean?" She quickly added, "if you don't mind me asking."

Katherine finally looked over at Lorelai. "I wouldn't answer the therapists. What makes you think I'd answer you?" She glared over at her.

Lorelai just shrugged. "Maybe because I too have ran away, not wanting my parents' help, who I thought wanted to control my life and not consider what it was that I wanted. That sound familiar?"

Katherine looked away from Lorelai, to continue staring out the window. Some birds in a nearby tree could be heard, chirping away as the morning was drawing to a close.

"From what I saw of your dad, back at the CFT meeting we had, he did seem like the controlling type. He wouldn't let things pass until Jaiden answered."

"Not answering when spoken to is rude. Otherwise, the child is to remain silent until such time has arose once more," she stated, still gazing out the window.

"Yeah, Jaiden mentioned the 'children are seen, not heard' rule. I told her it wasn't true and she could always be heard regardless if she was spoken to first or not." Lorelai saw her jaw muscles move as if Katherine was smirking.

"I'm sure Jaiden's been getting away with murder, the last four years. My father and I made sure to teach her properly the way children should behave. Civil and obedient."

"But if you didn't like the way your parents raised you, why would you pass that along to your own daughter? That's one of the reasons I left. So my daughter could grow up in a different environment than the one I was raised in." This was all very confusing.

Katherine shrugged. "It has nothing to do with how I was raised."

"Then why did you run away? Was it your father?" Lorelai asked. The thought hadn't even occurred Jaiden wasn't her grandfather's first victim. Things may have started out when her mother was growing up. After all, Erica did say Jaiden was showing the same signs.

There was a long pause where no one said anything for a minute.

Lorelai broke the silence. "Like I told Jaiden, I just want to help. If your father did do something, to you or to Jaiden, he needs to be brought to justice for it. A person like that shouldn't be freely walking the streets, much less have custody of a defenseless child."

Katherine kept staring out the window.

"Please? We just want Jaiden back, that's all. Already she feels like a part of our family. Jaiden's shown us parts of my husband I never thought possible and I know she wants to say something, but your father has some kind of hold over her where she feels she can't. There has to be a small part of you that must care for your daughter to say something? Even just a spect? Celia feels you would. Right?"

She scoffed. "Whether I did know or not, I could really care less what happens to her."

"Do you really mean that?" Lorelai didn't really one hundred percent buy it.

"Yep."

"I don't think you do," Lorelai told her with confidence. She caught sight of Katherine glance at her from the corner of her eye.

"You do, huh?"

"Yep."

Katherine turned fully back to the window. "And what makes you so confident? I mean, did you already forget about what I tried to do to my daughter? Are you not getting it through your thick head I don't give a damn about her?"

"Okay, yes, you tried to take a kitchen knife to her, but you never actually finished the job."

"The child kept squirming, I couldn't get a stab in," Katherine shrugged.

Lorelai still wasn't buying it. It just seemed like Katherine was holding back, just like Jaiden. The kid had been four and small. If Katherine really meant to kill her own child, she could have done it then just cut her across the cheek. "Deep down, there is some care. I know there is. There are mothers out there who are fully disconnected and will stop at nothing to do awful things to their children, but because you never went through with it, shows me you're not one of them." By this point, she had stood to her feet and started making her way over. Not all the way, though. Lorelai made sure to keep some distance between them. "I know you probably didn't plan on being a mother, at least not at the time. I know I didn't. I was still worried about finals. That doesn't take away the fact I had a wonderful kid who I am proud of every day. Somebody who could look up to me and be my best friend. Jaiden was counting on you to guide her through life, to teach her things. To be there for her when she takes her first steps. To be there for her on her first day of school. When she falls off her bike and scrapes her knee. To cheer her on at her first hockey game. Jaiden expected you to be there for her, to lead her. But, most importantly, to love her. It shouldn't be hard for a kid to try and love their own parent. No matter what mistakes we, the parent, make, children need to know we love them and help them learn not make the same mistakes and be there when they do."

As Lorelai was talking, Katherine's form seemed to start shaking until she finally exploded. She turned on her heel, to face Lorelai. Her face was red with anger. "So, you think because _you_ decided to sleep around you automatically assume I did?! You think I wanted to?! Well, guess what? Not everyone has that... _that choice_! I didn't ask to be a mother!"

Lorelai was about to respond when the door opened and the young man told Lorelai she had to leave. She tried to apologize, to both him and Katherine, but he told her it was best if Lorelai left for now and to come back another day, to give Katherine time to cool down. Lorelai agreed. Before she left though, Lorelai turned back to Katherine to apologize one last time, who didn't say a word. Katherine didn't even look at her. She just stared away at the floor.

Once Lorelai was out in the hall once more and the door was closed, she turned to the young man. "How long before I can come back?"

"Give it a few days." The young man nodded, supportively.

Lorelai returned the nod. She then put her shoes back on before they headed back up to the front desk so she could sign out and pick up her purse.

On the way home, Lorelai decided to give Celia a call. Mostly, she was dying to know how Jaiden was adjusting to her new foster home and how she was doing, overall. Things sure weren't the same without the kid around. During the night, both of them had automatically woke up, expecting to hear Jaiden any minute. They laid there, staring up at the ceiling. After a while, Luke had gotten up to use the bathroom, telling Lorelai he was going to use the one in the hallway as not to make any noise so she could fall back to sleep. Not that Lorelai could sleep anyway. Besides, Lorelai already knew he wasn't using the bathroom.

After fifteen minutes, Luke hadn't returned to bed. Lorelai got up to see what he was doing. She ended up finding him in the girls' room where Paul Anka had been laying on Jaiden's bed. It was clear he was missing her just as much as they did, if not more. Luke rubbed a hand along the back of the dog's head, who looked just as depressed. Making her way over, Lorelai joined her boys, sitting on the other side of Paul Anka and ran her own hand along his back. Lorelai stopped long enough to reach over and comfortingly grip Luke's hand, holding it firmly in hers.

Luke looked up and forced a smile for his wife. Lorelai returned it.

"Hey." Celia's voice broke into Lorelai's thoughts when she answered.

Lorelai shook out of her thoughts and forced some cheerfulness. "Hey. I was calling to see how Jaiden was doing."

"Yeah, I figured as much." Celia chuckled in lightheartedness.

Lorelai forced one too. "How's she doing? Have you heard from the foster parents?"

"Yeah, I called first thing this morning and talked to Stephen. Jaiden mostly kept to herself in her room, only coming out to eat and to use the bathroom. He said it took awhile for the cats to warm up to the newcomer, but after a few hours, one of them came out and wandered over to let Jaiden pet him. Usually it takes the cats longer to warm up to new charges, but that one really took to Jaiden like your dog did."

"Animals really do seem like great help for Jaiden," Lorelai said. "My sister-in-law had made plans with Luke and I, to take Jaiden for a few hours on Sunday, to bond. She said she found this farm that specializes in helping kids with backgrounds similar to Jaiden's, where they could help feed and take care of the animals. I really think that would have been perfect for her, and it would have been a great way for them to bond over."

"That does sound perfect for her." Celia sounded surprised and amazed all at the same time. "Darn it. Why did all of this have to happen? All of you are awesome people, you know that?"

Lorelai smiled as she shrugged one shoulder. "Well, you know. We are one of a kind. Seriously, we're having t-shirts made."

Celia laughed. "Hopefully, all this blows over and heads in your favor."

"Me too," she agreed.

"There's actually something else I think you should hear."

Lorelai couldn't help perk up in curiosity. "What's that?"

"Stephen mentioned the night terrors. After he and Mallory got her to wake up, she retreated in the corner of the bed," Celia explained.

"Okay," Lorelai nodded. "She did that with us as well." Why was Celia telling her about something she already knew about?

"Well, after they left her alone, he went to grab her a drink of water in case her throat was raw from screaming. Just before knocking, Stephen said he heard soft singing coming from inside and put his ear to the crack so he could listen better and realized it was Jaiden, singing to herself."

Her head twitched back to hear Jaiden was singing out loud. Not even they heard her sing out loud. "What was she singing?"

"He said it sounded like a lullaby of some sort. I told him it may have been the one Luke was singing to her."

When Celia mentioned the possibility Jaiden was singing Luke's lullaby to comfort herself, her eyes watered as she smiled. "That's great. I'll have to tell Luke that." Her hopes were returning that they _were_ making a difference with Jaiden.

"I thought so, too." Switching subjects, she asked, "so, how did it go with Jaiden's mother? Did she speak with you?"

"Yep, we got to talk. 'Course, I wish it could have gone smoother."

"She didn't tell you anything either, huh?" It didn't seem like much of a surprise. Celia did sound disappointed, though.

"Well, no. She was mostly quiet," she shrugged with both shoulders that time. Lorelai then went on to explain everything that had been said. "She just went off on me, stating she didn't have a choice. I mean, you kind of do if you decide to... you know."

Celia was quietly listening. "Yes, that's usually how it goes." It seemed like she was pondering on something.

"What?"

"Well, if Jaiden had something happen to her, and say it was her grandfather, don't you think she probably wasn't the first victim? Especially if Katherine said she left as soon as she turned eighteen and didn't return until much later around the same time Jaiden was born?"

It slowly started to sink in. Suddenly, a sinking feeling in her gut appeared at the realization. "Yeah, you're right," she said. Then it hit her. What Jaiden calls her grandfather and how it wasn't just a term for grandfathers. "Oh my God." Her blue eyes widened as she stared ahead at the road.

"You see it too." It wasn't much of a question as much as it was a statement.

Lorelai slowly shook her head, repeatedly. "I wish I didn't." This was becoming even more messed up than she thought it could be. It was looking like there was a reason why the father was left unknown on Jaiden's birth certificate.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Really sorry it took so long to update and hopefully I can get the next one up sooner! One minor note that's not really of importance. Stephen and Mallory are actually based off of my favorite YouTubers, who really do have two cats, named Sagan and Kepler. Stephen has a vlog and a let's play channel and Mal has a painting channel where she paints video game scenes in the style of Bob Ross, so you can check them out in case you're interested.**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Lorelai waited out the next few days until she was able to schedule another visit for the following day. She still called Celia, though, to see how Jaiden was doing. Ever since Jaiden had left, Luke had been a little more grumpy than his usual self, hardly making small talk at the diner. Like Lorelai's, his mind was mostly spent worrying about the kid, not to mention pretty upset she was taken from them when things were going so well. When he learned Jaiden had been singing his mother's song to herself, it really surprised him but in a good way. It just showed him how much the kid really did enjoy the song. Luke was just glad she still had a part of them to help comfort her after a nightmare. Her new foster parents did try and were very supportive of the whole situation. Luke and Lorelai were both glad for that. It was reassuring to know Jaiden was in a safe and loving temporary home.

On Wednesday, Lorelai got a call from her father while she was at work.

"Hello, Lorelai," he greeted, cheerfully.

"Oh, hey, Dad," she returned the greeting, also cheerful. "What's going on?"

"Well, I was calling to see how my future granddaughter is doing. Is she our granddaughter yet?"

"No, not yet." Lorelai forced a smile but her tone sounded the opposite of happy that time as she sorted through the inn's mail while standing at the front desk. "Jaiden, uh, is actually no longer with us."

"What do you mean she's no longer with you?" Richard questioned. "I thought you had until August? Isn't that what you said?"

Lorelai explained the bare minimum of the situation involving Jaiden's grandfather of what she could share, and how Jaiden had to be removed to break the attachment from her and Luke. Lorelai did make sure to share their suspensions, though, since it was Richard who had figured it out first.

"That is preposterous!" Richard stated when she was finished. "They cannot let that child go home with a man like that."

"I know, Dad. I'm currently working on helping the mother open up to what happened." Once the mail was sorted, she stuck each piece of mail inside the designated cubby behind where Lorelai was standing.

"I'm gonna help out as well. I'll get the best lawyer there is to make sure Jaiden doesn't end up with that vile man."

"Dad, it's okay. CPS provides a lawyer," she assured her father.

"Yes, and I'm sure they do a fine job, but I'd much rather you use someone I know will get the job done. As far as I am concerned, Jaiden is already our granddaughter and I want to make sure nothing else happens that would cause me to do something ungentleman-like."

Hearing something such as her father making a threat like that was unexpected and amusing all at the same time. Richard has raised his voice on many occasions and has gotten into verbal tiffs, but never has he gotten into a physical fight. That Lorelai knew of anyway. Guess that also shows how much he cared for Jaiden, just like the rest of them did.

That said, Lorelai assured him, "Okay, Dad. If you feel Luke and I need a better lawyer." It was hard holding down the laughter.

Richard was also surprised Lorelai was willing to accept his help, and so was she. But, whatever helped get Jaiden back home where she belonged and to put this man behind bars where _he_ belonged, she'd do it, at this point. Though, Richard and Emily still did not understand why they hadn't just taken in an infant instead of a older child. Regardless, Richard and Emily have already come to accept Jaiden and was willing to love her just as they did with their first granddaughter and step granddaughter.

Lorelai ended up going back on Friday, this time bringing a peace offering. And by peace offering, she brought cookies from Luke's, along with an decaffeinated tea for Katherine and a coffee for herself, of course. Because of last time, though, Lorelai was still a bit nervous. She hoped the second visit would go better than the first. Thankfully, Katherine accepted her back when Lorelai mentioned she had brought tea.

"I brought cookies my husband baked, as well," Lorelai offered, holding the box with Luke's logo on the sides.

"I don't prefer a lot of sweets," she said, declining the offer.

Lorelai continued to lure Katherine of taking a cookie. "Are you sure? My husband makes the best for someone who is also a health nut. Come on, one couldn't hurt," she added when Katherine still declined.

After a few tries, Katherine reluctantly gave in to Lorelai Gilmore's famous persuasion skills, taking a cookie from the box, using a napkin.

"I never let Jaiden eat lot of sweets either," she admitted as Katherine examined the chocolate chip cookie in her hand. "Sugar is unnecessary. At least unnatural sugar. Cakes, cookies, and ice cream seldom came through our house and when it did, I'd only let her have a small portion."

Lorelai nodded, thinking back to the sundae Sookie had made for Jaiden.

"I made sure to instill good portion sizes for all foods. I didn't want my child overeating on garbage like some kind of animal," Katherine added. She still hadn't taken a bite.

"That's good you wanted Jaiden to be healthy," Lorelai told her in a reassuring voice, "and she still follows it. My husband learned quickly to give her less than we usually eat so food wouldn't be wasted." She had to smile, though, as Lorelai added, "although, on a few occasions, Jaiden did ask for seconds, especially when we had spaghetti."

Katherine couldn't actually go through with taking at least one bite and wrapped it up in the napkin she had it on. She set the now wrapped cookie on the table as she said, "I had an Italian cook when she was younger. Cooked a lot of pasta meals. For some reason I'd catch that child in there, helping, and I would have to remind her, she's not supposed to be helping the help."

Lorelai chuckled at the image of a younger Jaiden, reminding her when she'd help Luke. "My husband lets her help him, too, like I said the other day."

"That's why it didn't surprise me," she shrugged.

"Did you know Jaiden can draw? I mean, really draw? Way more advanced for her years."

"Doesn't surprise me, either," Katherine shook her head and motioned over towards a painting on the wall. "My mother painted that."

Lorelai looked over where she was looking. It was a large canvas of what looked like a scene from _Pride and Prejudice_. "It's beautiful," she complimented. "Your mother painted that?"

"She loved all that artsy stuff. I could never do anything like that and I've tried. The most I could ever do was draw stick figures," she shrugged, staring at the masterpiece.

Lorelai let out a lighthearted sigh. "Yeah, that's about as much as I can accomplish, as well. My husband's nephew gave Jaiden a sketchbook after we found out and has been drawing in it ever since. We even have one of them hanging on the fridge she made for my husband."

Katherine was silent. Her gaze dropped from the painting, to the floor. Glancing up a bit, she reached for her tea to take a sip.

Lorelai watched for a moment before looking down at her lap. "Listen, I want to apologize for assuming it was your fault and not even taking in the possibility the same thing that might've happened to Jaiden, also happened to you. I'm really sorry, Katherine. Really." She held a shrug as she said, "I was just so worried for Jaiden, I didn't consider your side of things. After getting to know Jaiden, these past few months, you'd think I would have learned, but I guess not. So, again, I am really sorry."

Katherine stared at her tea.

Glancing at her lap once more, Lorelai added, "If you ever did want to talk about what happened, I'm willing to be here as a friend, and will accept if you don't. I just...We just want our little Jaiden back where she belongs."

"It doesn't matter," Katherine finally uttered.

"What doesn't matter?" she asked, unsure what Katherine was referring to.

"My father's one of the richest men in all of the state of Connecticut. He always gets what he wants regardless."

Lorelai gave a slight shrug, "Money can't buy everything. Sooner or later, the truth comes out. Whether we want it to or not, and take it from me, I'm speaking from experience."

Katherine took another sip without another word.

"We don't need to talk about it today. We can…" Lorelai searched around the room for something else to talk about, catching sight of the book Katherine had been reading the other day. "What book are you reading?"

Katherine glanced up to look over at the book on her nightstand. "It's a autobiography of a successful business owner and how they started a multimillion dollar company from nothing," she explained.

"Oh," she smiled, "that sounds interesting. Is that your dream?"

"Something to that effect, yes." Katherine then went on to explain everything she knew about the business world. Lorelai hung on to every word, now and then putting in input where she could, including starting an inn with Sookie, and Luke turning his father's hardware store into a diner. "I could show you how to turn that small inn into a chain, as well as your husband's diner," she offered.

"Thanks, but that's alright. Sookie and I are satisfied with our small, little place just as Luke is. _Especially Luke._ It took tooth and nail to convince him to paint it several years back." Lorelai laughed.

Katherine just stared at her as if Lorelai had three heads. "Why wouldn't any of you want to invest in your establishments if they are doing so well? You could be doing so much better than your current financial setting."

She just shrugged one shoulder. "It's not about the money. We do what we do because we love doing it. I can't see Luke sitting in a corporate office, not flipping the burgers himself, and I definitely don't want to sit around in an office all day, not getting to interact with the guests on a regular basis."

"To each their own, I guess. If you want to deal with consumer demands, face to face."

"Not all of them have demands. We make sure all of our guests have a pleasant experience and are fully satisfied when they check out. Most of them usually give good feedback and recommend our inn to their friends and family when they're passing through our town. Occasionally, someone has a complaint, but we make sure to make things right, right away."

Katherine still did not understand not wanting to expand their businesses, and spent the remainder of the visit, trying to convince Lorelai, otherwise. Before they knew it, the young man from before came in to let them know, time was up.

Lorelai still hadn't learned anything about Jaiden's grandfather yet except for how rich he was and that wasn't going to help, but at least the visit turned out better than the first and nobody left, upset. Plus, it was nice to know where Jaiden had gotten her creative talent from. It was all a start.

On the way to the inn, she stopped off at Luke's, to grab another coffee and lunch.

"Hey, how'd it go this time?" Luke asked as Lorelai came in and sat at the counter.

"Better," she replied. "We talked a lot about the world of business and how we can make the Dragonfly and Luke's a chain. We could even combine the two if we wanted."

His eyebrows rose as Luke poured her coffee. "That's what you two talked about?"

"Yep. Oh, and she didn't eat none of the cookies, by the way." Once Luke had finished pouring, Lorelai carefully picked the mug up with both hands and took a sip.

"Well, you have to start somewhere, I guess," he shrugged before calling out her usual lunch order to Caesar. "Are you going back?"

"As long as it takes," she shrugged, adding, "hopefully, it's before Jaiden's court hearing."

Luke leaned against the back counter, holding onto the edge with his hands. "Still got at least two months," he pointed out.

Leaning her arms on the counter, folded, Lorelai sighed. "I know." She stared at the inside of her coffee.

Luke tilted his head. "What?"

"I miss her."

"I know. She'll be home soon." It was hard not having the kid around. Even though they've only known Jaiden for a short time, it still felt like there was a huge, gaping hole inside of their hearts. Luke hadn't even gotten the chance to ask if Jaiden would be willing to go fishing at some point. During one of their weekly phone calls, April had even suggested the three of them going down where Luke had his boat, like they did a few summers ago.

About that time, Lorelai's cell phone went off, interrupting the couple's thoughts. She took it out, not recognizing the number on screen.

"This is Lorelai."

"Hi, Lorelai. This is Stephen. You told Celia we could have your number in case we had any questions regarding Jaiden, and couldn't get a hold of her."

Lorelai immediately panicked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I just wanted to talk to you ahead of time before a situation arose," the young man explained. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything. We just don't want to do anything that might make things worse for Jaiden, and for us, and since you already know her, I wanted to hear directly from you."

She smiled at the young man's enthusiasm. "That is not a problem. Ask away."

"Thanks," he replied, cheerfully. So far, the young man seemed very upbeat and happy-go-lucky.

"How's Jaiden doing, by the way?"

"She's doing fine. Hasn't said a word yet, but there's no pressure in that regard."

"Yeah, it took awhile for us to get a word from her, too," said Lorelai. Luke was still standing nearby, listening. Only, he had stood up from where he was leaning. The phone's volume was loud enough he could hear if Luke moved closer.

"We usually try to find other ways for the kids to communicate so they don't have to speak if they're not comfortable in doing so. Like pointing and body language. My wife, Mal, even makes little flashcards for basic everyday words," Stephen explained.

"Has it worked for Jaiden?"

"Uh, yeah, actually. More so for Mal, though. She seems weary around me which sucks because I'm the one home all the time."

Lorelai stared in confusion at nothing in particular. She stole a look with Luke. "Wait, you're the stay-at-home parent?"

"Well, I mean, sort of. I have a media and graphic design business that allows me to work from home so somebody can be home with the kids since my wife is a high school art teacher," he continued to explain.

"Oh, your wife teaches art?" Her spirits were lifted upon hearing Jaiden's new foster mother was an art teacher.

"Yep, for several years now. Mal's a really good artist, especially when she paints." The tone in Stephen's voice had really lifted even more as he spoke highly of his wife and her talent.

"Does that include drawing?"

"She does draw a little, but prefers painting. Why?"

"Jaiden has a real knack for drawing, and I'm not just talking about the basic kids' doodles. Art runs in her family I just learned this morning, and I'm sure it might help if Mal shared some of her passion with Jaiden."

"That's awesome," he replied. "Yeah, I think I've noticed her with a sketchbook, once or twice. I'll let my wife know, for sure."

"The plan was to get Jaiden into art classes over the summer, anyway," Lorelai shrugged. "So, this'll be perfect for her."

Luke had started wiping down the counter while he was standing there. He glanced up when Lorelai mentioned that last part, but didn't say anything.

Stephen, on the other hand, agreed with Lorelai. "Is there anything else we should know?"

"Well, you know to give her, her space, right? Don't try to hug her, and watch when other kids are around."

"We don't have any other kids at the moment. We usually keep one, or two, at the most since kids like Jaiden sometimes don't like the chaos that a packed house involves. Plus, it's easier to manage. Though, we do have plenty of supplies and will take in an infant even if we have two children," he explained.

"How long have you been foster parents?"

"Uh, about…" Stephen paused to think before answering. "About two and a half years. Once we both paid off our college debt, we talked about the possibility of kids of our own and then we realized the need for foster parents, so we went ahead and applied. Before long, we got our first child and have loved it ever since." He let out a small laugh. "The kids have come to refer to our home as the fun home because we have so many game consoles and a huge library of video games. Not to mention, several board games."

Lorelai smiled. "I bet it helps the kids who come through, too."

"Oh, yeah. Usually, they leave a little happier than when they arrived which is what we want. Even if we only have them for a short amount of time, at least we can say they got to experience a fun and loving environment where they felt loved and cared for."

"That's really great. I'm sure once Jaiden warms up to you guys, she'll have lots of fun. She may not even want to leave." Lorelai laughed, jokingly.

Luke, however, was not laughing at all. In fact, it actually got under his skin as he stared at the rag underneath his hand, especially when the topic of action movies came up and Stephen had mentioned he had games similar to those kinds of movies. As Lorelai continued to let the young man know of everything they had come to learn about Jaiden, her likes and dislikes, and what to expect, and how to handle certain situations, Luke eventually left to make his rounds.

When he returned, Lorelai was finishing up the call. One of his other employees had already brought out her order, so when Lorelai ended the call, she took another sip of her coffee before picking up her burger. She noticed Luke had been quiet for a while and when she tried to say something, he gave his usual short answers.

"What's wrong with you?" Lorelai finally asked, confused. She knew he had been a little grumpy over the past week, but he still held a conversation with her.

"Nothing's wrong," he denied. Reaching for the coffee pot, Luke topped off her coffee and started checking off past orders.

Lorelai of course wasn't buying it. "There is too something wrong. Wanna talk about it?" she asked, concerned.

He still tried to deny something was bothering him, but Lorelai wasn't letting him off the hook. Finally, he asked, "Why did you have to say that?"

She stared at him in a confused manner. "Say what?"

Luke hesitated before finally answering. "About Jaiden being there was perfect, that she'll never want to leave?"

Lorelai shrugged her hands up, partly. "I was just saying, if Jaiden had to end up somewhere, temporary, I'm glad it was with an art teacher whose family collects and plays games as a hobby. I didn't mean she'll actually want to live with them."

Luke scoffed, continuing to flip through the orders.

"Would you rather Jaiden stay with a boring old couple who watches soaps all day and made the kids do chores all the time, and not have any fun?"

"No, of course not. I am very glad she's where she can hone her drawing skills and play games all day." It was true, Luke was glad Jaiden could be happy where she was. It just scared him that there was a possibility of Jaiden moving on without them and not want to come back once her grandfather was out of the picture. "As long as Jaiden is happy, then I'm happy. No big deal." He shrugged it off.

Lorelai could see right through him, coming to know when there was more than what Luke was leading on. "Luke, it's okay. Really. Jaiden's not gonna prefer them over us, I promise."

He just shrugged again. "Oh, I know." Luke glanced up at his wife.

"Are you sure, Luke? You don't have to be afraid…"

Luke cut her off. "I'm not afraid. You think I'd be intimidated by someone like them, who knows how to draw and collect things kids like? No way." He went back to his orders that he wasn't actually reading. Lorelai tried to press further until Luke firmly told her he was just fine before informing her, he was going upstairs, calling out to let Caesar know, as well.

Once upstairs, Luke let the door shut on its own, glad to be alone in his apartment with only his thoughts. However, it didn't make it any better as he would have liked. Dropping down in his chair, Luke leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and held his head in his hands. It felt like when he thought Luke was losing April after her mother wanted to move her clear across the country after just finding out about her. Thankfully, Luke was able to fight Anna for custody, but this time, Jaiden wasn't biologically his, and even if they were able to prove her grandfather, guilty, there was a chance of Jaiden liking somebody else even better, that they were just preparing her for another family. He knew these thoughts were foolish and the odds of that happening were slim, but it still terrified him, there was a chance of losing another one of his girls. Sure, he got his other girls back, but the fear of his luck running out, did not help any and Luke had to fight back a tear that was fighting to surface.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

It was taking longer than Lorelai would have liked, waiting for Katherine to be willing to open up about her father. Just when it seemed things were headed in the right direction and Katherine would start to share something, she'd shake her head and continue on in another direction. Lorelai never said anything about it, pretending like she hadn't caught it. It wasn't easy, but then again, it probably wasn't easy for Katherine either, and that's what kept Lorelai going. This woman probably never had a real friend she felt she could share anything with, so Lorelai had to prove to her, _she_ could be that friend.

To make matters worse, the visits with Howard had started the following week from when Lorelai began visiting Katherine. Once she had found out, Lorelai nearly had a panic attack, and Luke wasn't much better, either. The thought of the two of them in the same room without him, made Luke's blood boil and get extremely deep under his skin. It made his grumpiness reach record height to the point, Lorelai ended up making him take some time off from work and let Caesar run things so none of the customers could feel his wrath, especially Kirk, who was almost Stars Hollow's first murder victim.

Mallory, Stephen's wife, had ended up calling to talk to Lorelai as well. It had seemed like Jaiden wasn't even interested in anything, not even to bond over art. Jaiden just kept to her room, only coming out to eat, use the bathroom, and to bathe. Stephen had tried hooking up their _Nintendo 64_ system to the TV that was in her room, and showing her the games they had, but she wouldn't give him the time of day. He even left it on the main menu of their _Goldeneye 007_ game in case Jaiden changed her mind. Mallory had been in there at the time and noticed the game did catch her eye while Stephen was playing through it, showing her how to play, but Jaiden continued to look away, huddled in a ball in the corner of her bed.

"Well, just keep trying, okay?" Lorelai had told her. "Please don't give up on her. Too many people already have." It pained her heart to know the kid had put the walls back up again. It brought tears to her eyes.

"We won't give up on her, don't worry. As long as they're in our care, we don't give up on these kids. They've been through too much already for that to happen."

"Maybe give her a message for me," she suggested. "Let her know, Luke and I are doing everything we can to get her back, and that we still love her. Maybe that'll help."

"I actually can't," Mallory admitted, sadly. "I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?"

"When Celia gave us your number, she also informed us that we couldn't pass the phone to Jaiden, or let her know about what you were doing in the background," she explained.

"Why not?" Lorelai knew they weren't technically a part of Jaiden's case any longer, but didn't mean they couldn't at least relay a simple message, right? Let the kid know her and Luke still loved her?

"Her supervisor gave Celia the order. He says we shouldn't even be calling you, but since you've learned things none of them couldn't, he figured that could be enough as long as we don't give Jaiden false hope that you could still be around."

"False hope? Luke and I do still plan on being around," Lorelai tried to argue, not at all liking the guy by this point.

"Hey, his words, not mine. I agree one hundred percent, what they are doing to Jaiden is wrong, not to mention, dumb. I'd be more than happy to give her whatever message you need to give. Heck, I'd pass her the phone so you can tell her, yourself. But I love this job too much to risk getting on anyone's bad side by breaking their rules, no matter how dumb I think it is. There's too many kids that still need our help and love."

Lorelai sighed under her breath. "No, you're right. I wouldn't make you risk that. I just wish I could tell her, we still love her."

"I know," she said, sympathetically, "and don't you think Jaiden already knows, too?"

"I…" Lorelai paused. "I don't know, honestly." She thought back to last time they saw each other when Jaiden had lost it on her again.

"Listen, even though my husband and I have only been doing this for a short time, I know for a fact, kids are smarter than most adults give them credit for. They know when somebody truly loves them, and I'm sure Jaiden does know you love her. Why else would she still be singing your husband's lullaby to herself? According to Celia, she's never done anything like that. At least, not to their knowledge. So don't you think that means something?"

"I guess so." Lorelai leaned forward, dropping her forehead into her hand. She was sitting on the couch in the living room.

"Stephen would tell me, and now tells the kids, to keep your chin up when you're going through rough times," Mallory continued. "Things that are meant to happen, _will happen._ I haven't met the grandfather, but Stephen has when he took Jaiden to their first visit, and he says he felt a vibe come from the guy that didn't feel right. I can't share any more than that, though. Something has to come up on that guy."

Lorelai nodded. Her anxiety had skyrocketed and her first instincts was to start shooting out questions, but Lorelai made sure to forcibly contain herself. "Thanks."

"No problem," Mallory assured her. "And we'll keep hanging in there with Jaiden for as long as we have her. Okay?"

"Okay," she replied. Lorelai smiled. Eventually, the ladies ended the call and let each other go. Even with the reassurance, though, Lorelai still wasn't quite fine; her mother hen instincts growing crazy, thinking about this whole situation and wishing to have Jaiden safely back with them.

So, while Stephen and Mallory continued to keep trying with Jaiden, Lorelai continued to keep trying with her mother. Lorelai made sure to ask her questions about her work, and college, and stuff like that, letting Katherine speak for the most part, hoping she'll eventually know she would be heard. The visits ended up feeling like a normal meet-for-coffee-with-a-friend. Some days there would even be laughter, while others ended with the young man asking Lorelai to leave early. She ended up learning his name was Jeff, and tried flirting with him just to see what he would do. Jeff told her, he was in a serious relationship.

However, when things couldn't get any more worse, Stephen and Mallory wasn't able to be successful before Jaiden had to move once again. Stephen had called Lorelai during her visit with Katherine, so he had to leave a message. As soon as she got outside, Lorelai called him back even though he said everything, including an apology, which she told him he didn't need to but thanked him for anyway.

"Jaiden left her toy here," he added, after they discussed it. "I hadn't noticed until after they left. Do you know how special it is? Would she want it back? Usually, if a kid leaves behind any personal belongings, that's it. It's considered public domain for another kid, but I'd be happy to let Celia know, or send it to you."

"Which toy is it?"

"The action figure."

"Yeah, she'll probably want it back," Lorelai nodded. She was sitting in her jeep, leaning against the seat. After explaining why Jaiden would definitely want it back, Lorelai invited him and his wife to come stop by Luke's Diner for lunch on Saturday, to drop it off. It was probably for the best if they kept it for Jaiden, so another kid couldn't steal it, or get hurt over it. It was also one more reason to get her back home where Jaiden belonged. Though, Luke tried to tell Stephen to get out when he had gotten his camera out to vlog the experience, especially the food, and Lorelai had to assure them, "don't listen to him. He's just being Luke."

As soon as Lorelai and Stephen had hung up, she immediately called Celia, to make sure Jaiden was alright. Celia had been backed up lately with court hearings and meetings, plus one of her older kids had AWOLed from his group home, adding more paperwork to the chaos that she hadn't been able to search for a therapeutic group home for Jaiden. When Jerry found out, he volunteered to search for her even though Celia had assured him, she'd get to it, not wanting to admit she was actually glad for the chaos so Jaiden wouldn't have to move again until Lorelai could fix things. But Jerry insisted and ended up finding one in Litchfield, and moved Jaiden himself.

"Is she okay? Do you know how she's adjusting?" Lorelai frantically asked.

"I'm going to visit her on Thursday, at the end of the day."

Lorelai dropped her forehead against the top of the steering wheel. It took so much strength for both Luke and Lorelai to hang in there. With Jaiden having been moved once more, it was even more of a challenge not to make Katherine tell her anything.

Finally, after several visits, Katherine told Lorelai, "Don't think I don't know what you're doing."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You're trying to befriend me so I would tell you what you want. Just like all the others."

"That's not true. I mean, yes, I hope you can trust me enough to speak up for Jaiden, but I'm not just doing this for that reason. I want to help you, too. Don't you want to be able to bite this in the ass and be able to check out of this place?"

Katherine stared at the floor as if in thought. She looked away, seeming like she wasn't convinced. "Even if I wanted to, why should I help that little…" Katherine paused for a moment. "She was nothing but a constant reminder. If my father wants her, he can have her."

Lorelai shook her head. "You don't mean that."

She glanced at her from the corner of her eye. "The hell I do."

"What was done to you both never should have happened, but you can't let it hold you back from doing the right thing," Lorelai tried to say.

That time, Katherine finally looked at her. "And what do you think happened to us?"

Lorelai just sat there. She swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat.

"Well, go on. If you think you're so smart," she egged Lorelai on.

"It has nothing to do with being smart," she shrugged. "I just put the pieces together. You said you didn't ask to be a parent, you feel Jaiden reminds you of something that has happened to you. Jaiden is terrified of your father, but still continues to protect him." Lorelai watched her for a moment. "I swear I am not just using you, and I promise I can be a friend through all this. I really want to help."

Katherine scoffed. "As soon as you have the info you want, you'll be gone. You can't fool me."

"That's not true. If you want me to stay, I will. I promise."

Katherine remained silent that time.

"No matter how hard you try, you can't shoulder this alone. You have to let somebody help you carry the burden, Kath," Lorelai told her. "Otherwise, it's gonna destroy you. I'm sure I can never imagine the horrors you and Jaiden have seen and experienced. I know Jaiden wants to say something, but the fear your father has over her is keeping her hostage."

"It's not just my father," she said.

Lorelai started to say something until Katherine interrupted.

"I mean, yes, it was his idea…" Katherine stared at the floor for a moment. "I made sure to instill the fear, too."

"You mean…"

She nodded, "Telling her, kids are not to be heard."

"But they do need to be heard, Kath. Jaiden needs to know she can tell someone when she's being hurt or her needs aren't being met. If something was going on, Jaiden should have been able to tell someone. Tell you."

Katherine shot a look up at her. "You think I don't know what was going on between them?! You don't think I knew all along why she was always upstairs in her room, screaming her head off whenever he came over?"

Lorelai swallowed once more, this time, more nervously. Here it is. "I didn't mean…"

She continued. "I knew. I knew all along. But I didn't care. All I cared about was the fact it was no longer me. That he had finally moved on and found another pleasure."

"Are you…? Are you confirming what I think you're confirming?"

Katherine shrugged casually. "Would it make you happy if I was?"

"It's not about me. It's about you," Lorelai reminded her in the most reassuring way possible.

Katherine stared at her, not saying a word. Eventually, she looked away again. Before long, her eyes closed tightly. She flinched when Lorelai tried slowly reaching over to take a hold of her hand Katherine had on the chair arm, tugging it out of her reach.

"I'm sorry," Lorelai apologized. "I wasn't trying to…"

After a minute, Katherine lowered her arm back down. She also lowered her gaze back to the floor. "After he'd leave, I would go up there where she was laying on her bed. She'd be huddled there in the fetal position, constantly sniffing. It was annoying. Then she would notice I was there and look up at me. Our eyes would meet like she was trying to persuade me to help her. 'Nobody can help you, kid. Trust me.' But she would just keep staring at me. So after swallowing down the last of whatever I'd be drinking, I would drag her up to her feet and...and I shove her down onto the floor, and I would beat her until she no longer looked at me. Then the day came when I finally snapped enough, and went to grab the knife." The words seemed to have been finally spilling out. As if Katherine had finally released what was holding her back. "Damn kid wouldn't hold still of course. I just wanted her gone. But even after everything I tried to do, she'd still, _still_ plead with me. Kid never was very bright." She scoffed at that.

Lorelai spoke up again for Jaiden. "She is very bright. Her teachers said she was doing very well with catching up. Jaiden just had hope that you would stop and help her."

Katherine shrugged. She looked up to respond, "Mine never helped me. Why should I help her?"

"Because you're responsible for you _and_ Jaiden. Yes, your mother could have stepped in, but she didn't. But that doesn't mean you had to pay it back towards your own daughter."

Katherine stared at Lorelai. "I owed that child nothing. Not when she constantly reminded me…"

"You did owe her. Still do. You are her mother, and yes, you may not have asked for that job, but you have it. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you could have put a stop to the cycle. When does it end, Katherine? I'm sure you felt the same way Jaiden felt, wishing and hoping your mom would step in and rescue you. So, why not step in and do it for your own?"

"The hell should I? At least I didn't stand in the room and watch it happen. At least I stayed away while it happened, unlike mine who just sat there and watched, thinking apologizing to me afterwards would make it better. In fact, that was the last thing my mother ever saw before she died."

Lorelai straightened her head up in confusion.

"He would sometimes make her watch as he had his way, ever since I was very little, all the way until I left at the age of eighteen when I was finally able to leave for college. And I was finally free, too. I vowed never to return." Katherine glared at her. "Then my mother got sick and requested to see me one last time. I don't know why I went back. The only plan I had in mind, was to rub it in her face. 'Hah! That's what you get.'" Her tone grew quieter. "He wasn't supposed to be home. He was supposed to be away on a business trip but I guess he finished early. Next thing I knew was being thrown on the bed right next to her. Our eyes met and held them until she breathed her last breath…." There was a short pause before she concluded. "Jaiden was conceived that very night."

Lorelai couldn't help the tears form in her eyes. "I am so sorry," she tried to say. So their suspensions were true. Jaiden's grandfather was also her father, which would make Katherine, not only her mother, but her sister as well.

"I don't need your sympathy. Now, you got what you wanted. So get out," Katherine replied, coldly.

"Are you sure you don't want me to…?"

"I SAID, GET OUT!"

Jeff returned at that moment, insisting it was time for Lorelai to leave. She reluctantly stood to her feet and followed him out into the hall.

"You did good," he assured her. "That's way more than we ever could get from her."

Lorelai forced a smile. She then told him, she wasn't quite done yet and said she would be back. After all, now that it was all out in the open and Katherine confessed, she was going to definitely need a friend. And, yes, they were finally one step closer to getting Jaiden back.


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: PLEASE READ FIRST! I forgot to include a warning at the beginning of last chapter for Katherine's confession story, so really sorry I threw that at you. This chapter also has some tough stuff that happens. I promise it does ends on a lighter note, I made sure of it. Hope you continue to enjoy this story even though it is very sad.**

* * *

Chapter 21

As soon as Lorelai had gotten out to her car, she called Celia right away to inform her Katherine had finally shared with her what had happened, confirming their suspensions. Celia wasn't sure whether to be relieved or heartbroken. It was great they had the truth, but at the same time, what this mother and daughter was going through and why.

Celia told Lorelai, she would have to get back to her in a few days. For one, it was a Friday, and two, Celia would have to discuss where to go from here with Jerry. They were going to have to cancel the visits between Jaiden and her grandfather, which was a relief in of itself. They weren't even sure to call him, her grandfather. It was also during the talk, Lorelai realized Katherine hadn't mentioned if Jaiden even knew her grandfather was actually her father. Whether or not she did, Celia was going to have to tell Jaiden.

It was more than a week before Celia got back to Lorelai. In the meantime, Lorelai had gone back to see how Katherine was doing, only to be rejected this time. Both her and Jeff tried knocking on her door. Lorelai even tried reasoning with her.

"I promise I'm not here to talk about Jaiden. I just want to make sure how you are doing, Kath," she called through the door.

Nothing. Eventually, they had to give up for now. Lorelai made sure to let Katherine know the hospital staff had her phone number, and Katherine could call anytime she needed. Lorelai gave her a minute to respond before having to leave. A few days later, she called the hospital to see how Katherine was doing. The air turned cold and thick when the woman on the other line broke the news. Somehow, Katherine had gotten a hold of some extra medication she wasn't supposed to have and overdosed. The whole place was closely monitored so it was staggering how Katherine was able to accomplish such a task before somebody getting there on time.

Lorelai couldn't help feel the guilt as though it was somehow her fault. She had been at the inn, in her office when Lorelai had called.

Sookie came in at that point already discussing the menu of that evening's meal. When she noticed Lorelai was holding her face in her hands, leaning forward on the desk, Sookie stopped mid-sentence. "Lorelai? What's wrong, hun?"

Lorelai lifted her head, revealing tears soaking her face. She sniffed in first. "Jaiden's mother overdosed last night."

"Oh no. Honey, I'm so sorry."

She shrugged. "I don't understand. I thought everything was fine. It didn't seem like I was forcing her to tell me what happened. She just started talking and before I knew it, the words were spilling out. I told her I would help her, Sookie, but she just shut me out."

"This wasn't your fault. You mustn't blame yourself," Sookie tried to assure Lorelai. "If Jaiden's mother felt she could no longer keep going then she was already too far gone."

"But I could have done something. I _should_ have done something. I didn't even see this coming. Why didn't I see this coming?!" The tears were now starting to pour.

"We don't always see what's on the inside, and what they're dealing with," Sookie shrugged. "They push it down deep inside and put up these walls, and pretend like everything's fine when it's really not. It's sad and heartbreaking, but that is their choice. To them, it seems like the only choice." Reaching over, Sookie pulled out a couple Kleenexes from their box to hand out towards Lorelai. "You did the best you could."

Lorelai took the Kleenexes, using them to blow her nose. "It doesn't feel like I did, Sook. I feel like I could have done more."

"You still have Jaiden. There's still hope with her."

She threw the Kleenexes into the wastebasket beside her desk. That right there made Lorelai want Jaiden back even more. She didn't even want to think about how the little girl was going to take the news about her mother. And now, there was an urgency to help Jaiden. They couldn't let go through the same thing sad end. Jaiden had to be different.

"I'm really sorry, hun," she heard Sookie tell her.

They had to get Jaiden back. In Lorelai's mind, it may as well have been Howard who gave Katherine those pills. That horrible man was not getting away with all of the damage he had caused these girls.

Luke was already out for murder when he first learned the truth. When Lorelai told him about Katherine, it had sent him over the top.

"I swear, if I ever get my hands on that bastard." He began pacing around the room. "They will never be able to identify the body. I will make sure of it."

"Luke, you are not going to kill him," Lorelai brought him back to reality.

He stopped pacing to ask, "Why not?"

"Because, regardless of the reason, it's still a felony," she told him.

Luke let out a tired sigh. He sometimes hated when Lorelai was right. Stress was greatly filling his plate at the moment. It was the beginning of summer break so that meant April was going to be coming back, in a few days. They had been hoping to have Jaiden back by now, but it was only a fantasy. It was bad enough he had to have a conversation with Anna, April's mother, who wanted to keep April this summer, pointing out how many summers they had left before April graduated and would be moving on to college. Luke had agreed to that, but reminded Anna about her having her first twelve summers, and it was only fair he'd have the last five or six summers. Then came the other reason why. Anna told him, she didn't like April had gotten to know Jaiden before the adoption was even final, pulling the same crap she had pulled about April getting to know Lorelai while they were still dating, and felt April shouldn't be exposed to what they were dealing with either. Thankfully, this time, Luke had jurisdiction. If anything, he needed as much of his girls around to keep him sane through this whole process. And if April wanted to come back over the summer, she was more than welcome to. Thankfully, she took her dad's side, not caring if he and Lorelai were in a mess. April just wanted to see her baby sister again.

By the time April had finally returned, Celia had finally gotten back to Lorelai.

"How did everything go? Is he behind bars yet?" Lorelai couldn't help blurt out.

"Unfortunately not yet," Celia replied. "We did make sure to confirm Katherine's confession by getting a cheek swab from all three."

"And?" Lorelai couldn't help feel anxious.

"After a tough battle from both Howard and Jaiden… For separate reasons of course," she quickly added.

"What do you mean?"

"With Howard, we ended up having to get in touch with Jaiden's judge who is in charge of her case plan, so we could get a DNA test. As soon as he could, he got his lawyer involved, and apparently wants to sue CPS for all the trouble we're causing _his_ family."

Lorelai scoffed. " _You're_ the one causing your family, trouble, buddy." She used buddy, very loosely.

Celia agreed. "Thankfully, we did get it. He was arrested but of course Howard made bail. At least for now until we go to court and the judge makes the final decision. With Jaiden, however, it took several people to hold her down and get the swab inside her cheek to scrape it."

"How's Jaiden doing otherwise? Is she still giving everyone a hard time?"

"The swabbing didn't help matters, I'll say that," she explained, sadly. "Jaiden won't let anybody near her. Now, if anyone gets within a few feet of her, she'll lash out. She's eating even less than she was, she won't participate in any of the games or school."

Lorelai felt a lump rise in her throat and her eyes water. It seemed like they were losing Jaiden, too and that wasn't going to happen. Not if Lorelai could help it.

Celia broke into her thoughts. "I do have a theory I would like to try out, though, but I need to borrow Luke to test it out."

"What kind of theory?"

"Even though she's shutting everyone else out, Jaiden is still singing that lullaby. And, when I went to visit her, the last time, to let Jaiden know the visits with her grandfather would be over and told her, her mother had confessed… Actually, I told her, you had been talking to her mother, and when I had mentioned what you had been doing in the background, and how you and Luke still want to adopt her, I saw her eyes move up towards me, and I swear this, too. There was a slight hint of hope."

"So, what do you want Luke to do?" Lorelai asked, relief washing over her that there was indeed a chance with Jaiden.

"I want him, and you if you would like, to come with me the next time I go to see her. I'd like to see her reaction if she were to see you again. Because once the others who tried to adopt her left, she never saw them again," Celia explained. "Do you think Luke would be willing to do it?"

Lorelai smiled a huge smile. "Are you kidding? You wouldn't even have to ask him twice. That man has been so miserable since Jaiden left a month ago. I had to make him take some time off from work. He couldn't even find the interest to go fishing."

"That would be so great if he did," she replied, cheerfully.

"When would you like us to come with you?"

"Lately, I've had to see her at least once a week, usually Thursday afternoons. Would you both be available then?"

"If not, we will clear our schedules."

"Thanks, Lorelai," she thanked her.

"What happens if Jaiden responds positively towards us? Will she be able to come back home?"

"I'll have to talk it over with Jerry, but yes, if she does respond to you, I will fight tooth and nail to get her back with you."

Lorelai dropped her head back. "Celia, you don't know how much that means to hear you say that. Things haven't been the same without that kid. I've barely even wanted to eat myself, and if anyone who knows me, knows it's catastrophic when I turn down food." She heard Celia laugh at that.

"Well, I have to let you go. I am walking into the court building for another one of my kids. I'll call you Thursday morning to give you directions to the group home facility."

"No problem. Bye." After exchanging closings, the ladies ended the call. Her spirits were finally lifted that they would finally be seeing their little Jaiden again. So excited, she didn't even let Michel's whining of whatever had pissed him off, get her down. She immediately called Luke to tell him, not wanting to wait until later.

Luke was pretty much speechless.

"Luke? Luke? Oh, Luke. Luke?"

"I-I-I… This is so great." He too was so thrilled that he ended up giving everyone in the diner a round of coffee, on the house. He even gave Kirk a free piece of pie to make up for almost murdering him the other day.

Since April was in high school now, during the summer when she would stay with them, Luke would let her work there to earn some extra cash to save for a car. She had asked him what was the sudden change of mood.

"We're gonna go see Jaiden on Thursday," he told her.

April gasped in happiness. "Can I come too?"

"We'll have to ask her caseworker if it's alright. If it is, then yes, of course," he assured.

April then joined in with his excitement.

Thursday couldn't have come any faster. When Celia called to give her the directions, Lorelai asked if it would be alright if April came along.

"Did Jaiden get along with April at all?"

"Yeah," she relied. "As a matter of fact, Jaiden was upset when our girls had to leave at the end of their spring break."

"Then yes, she can definitely come."

Around one in the afternoon, Lorelai pulled up in front of the diner, honking her horn repeatedly to get their attention. Luke knew to have coffee and lunch with him when he opened the passenger door. Letting April climb into the backseat first, he slid in, having Lorelai hold everything. He took everything back except for her coffee. That, of course, she kept.

While Lorelai drove, Luke passed out lunch to the girls. It was amazing watching Lorelai drive, eat, and drink coffee all at once as if she were a pro at it.

"I brought chicken fingers and onion rings in case Jaiden was hungry," Luke said as he rolled up the paper bag with his diner's logo on the front and set it on the floor at his feet. "I would have brought milk, but there would be no way of keeping it cold, and putting ice in milk is a terrible idea."

"Milk isn't even that good for you anyway," April inputted from the backseat. "I mean, sure, it gives you calcium, but if you don't drink the right kind, it's basically full of fat."

"Well, Jaiden seems to like the fat-free milk, anyway," he replied, twisting around briefly to glance back at his daughter.

"Unless it's mixed with cereal or going in coffee, there's really no reason to drink milk," Lorelai pointed out which reminded Luke, he was so glad both April and Jaiden were on his side when it came to food and beverages.

It wasn't that long of a drive to Lichfield, and soon, Lorelai was pulling into the designated parking area, beside where Celia was parked.

"Hey, guys," she greeted once Lorelai parked and everyone had gotten out. "Find the place alright?"

"No thanks to Luke," Lorelai teased, smirking over at her husband.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault. Those directions you printed out were the ones that were lousy," he protested.

"Yeah, sure, blame Google," she told him, lightly crossing her arms in front of her.

"Well, the important thing is, you're here," Celia assured them, breaking things up. She then led them inside, explaining she hadn't mentioned them coming to Jaiden, wanting a blind reaction. Both Luke and Lorelai listened as they peered around at their surroundings.

The place looked almost like a school campus complete with dorms. There was a building with mostly windows with a sign that read it was a cafeteria. Celia had already explained to Lorelai over the phone, it was a thirty-two bed facility that had doctors, therapists, and trained staff right there on campus, 24-7. Plus a cafeteria and even a gym where the kids could play sports. There was a playground on the other side that they couldn't see but could hear the laughter and excited screams of the kids who were outside playing.

Celia led them inside the main office area where she introduced them to the facility supervisor in charge of all operations. "Felicia, this is Luke, Lorelai, and April."

Felicia shook each of their hands, including April's. "I hope this theory of yours works," she told Celia, afterwards. "We're about at the point, all of the other kids are afraid of her."

"How's she doing?" she asked.

"She hasn't eaten at all today, and she didn't eat dinner, last night, either. She had took to hiding under her bed and my staff have been trying to get her to come out," Felicia explained.

Luke held up the paper bag he had brought in with him. "I brought her something to eat if we're able to get her to come out."

She shrugged, "Let us hope so." The woman looked tired, complete with bags under her eyes. There was no doubt Jaiden had been giving everyone a hard time, remembering how tired he and Lorelai were, waking up with Jaiden, every single night.

Felicia led the group back outside and to one of the dorms. As soon as she opened the door, the familiar screams of the kid echoed from down the hall where a couple of staff were standing outside an open doorway.

Luke immediately passed the bag of food to April before sprinting inside. The second he got close, one of the staff stepped in front of him, raising a hand towards the guy.

"You can't go in there, sir."

"The hell I can. Move, that's my little girl in there." He informed them, firmly.

They still tried to refuse until Celia ordered them to let Luke inside which Felicia gave the say with a slight head nod. Stepping to the side, the staff member let Luke inside, telling the other staff member who was in there trying to restrain Jaiden, to let Luke take over.

Luke immediately pinned his arms around the little girl, who tried to break free during the transition but was able to keep a firm grasp on her. He wrapped his arm around Jaiden's forehead so she couldn't headbutt him. Now that Luke had a firm hold on her, he began singing in her ear.

Jaiden continued to squirm, probably not realizing who had taken a hold of her. Tears were soaking her face as she cried out. As Luke sang, though, Jaiden slowly started to cease. He sang the song five times before she had completely settled down and saw her eyes slowly open. Jaiden then lifted her head and her gaze met his.

Things were silent. Nobody said a word as both Luke and Jaiden stared at each other for a long time, just like the first time he had to restrain her. Only this time, Jaiden didn't try to break loose.

Lorelai and the others had joined in the doorway, watching and waiting. Sometime during the silence, she had grabbed onto April's hand, giving it a firm but gentle squeeze, waiting and hoping, who squeezed it right back just the same.

Finally, after a while, to everyone's surprised relief, it was Jaiden who broke the silence.

"Lu...Luke?"

He smiled. "Hey, sweetie. Miss me?"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Jaiden ambushed him, throwing her arms around his neck. Luke was taken off guard. It quickly wore off and wrapped his own arms around her, feeling her small form tense up, but did not let go.

Feeling her foot step forward, Lorelai headed inside the room, heading over to the other side of the room where they were. She kneeled behind where Luke was kneeled.

"Hey, sweetheart."

Jaiden opened her eyes, meeting them with hers. They were then filled with grief and Lorelai heard her say, "I'm sorry," from Luke's shoulder when she couldn't hold them any longer at her.

"About what, sweetie?" she asked, slightly tilting her head.

Luke gently nudged the little girl off of his shoulder to look at her when there some hesitance. "It's okay, sweetie. Say whatever's on your mind."

"Remember, I said you do have a voice, sweetheart," Lorelai reminded Jaiden as well.

Jaiden stared towards the floor. After a moment, she lifted her gaze towards Lorelai again. "I don't hate you," she shook her head, timidly.

"Oh, sweetie, I know you don't." Lorelai gave her a reassuring smile. The next thing they knew, Jaiden was leaping over Luke and tackled Lorelai, grabbing onto the woman's neck. Lorelai had to catch herself on her right hand.

Luke turned around, sitting back on his leg once more as he watched it happened. While hugging Lorelai, he noticed Jaiden's head lift. Luke looked in the same direction where April was still standing in the doorway, and motioned with his head for her to come over. The teen headed over to them.

"Hey, sis," she told Jaiden, kneeling on Lorelai's other side, setting the bag on the floor beside her. "I missed ya." April smiled for the younger girl. "I still have the drawing you made me hanging up in my bedroom at my mom's."

Jaiden still had her head on Lorelai's shoulder, so neither her or Luke could see her face. Glancing back at the doorway, Luke noticed Celia had vanished. Felicia held her hand to her ear in the shape of a phone, letting him know she had stepped out to make a phone call.

At that point, Jaiden lifted her head. She stared up at Lorelai with a pitiful look. "Come home?"

Lorelai exchanged a quick look with Luke before turning back to her. "You want to come home with us, sweetheart?"

Jaiden nodded with timidness, still.

"As soon as we get the say, yes, you are coming home with us. I think Paul Anka misses you more than we do." Lorelai snickered at that, lightheartedly.

"Miss him, too," she replied.

"Can you do us a favor in the meantime?"

Jaiden hesitated before nodding.

"Can you try to eat for us, and not give everyone here, a hard time?"

There was some more hesitance. "I-I'll try." She then hugged Lorelai one more time.

Celia returned, getting Luke's attention once more, and held a thumb's up out towards him, nodding her head with a big smile. It made him perk up upon seeing it grabbing both Lorelai and April's attention, who twisted around to look at her, as well. Celia did the same thing again.

Jaiden had looked up at her caseworker, too.

"It looks like that's a yes, sweetheart," Lorelai told her and felt Jaiden's hold, tighten.

There was a glimmer of light in the darkness, after all. The journey was far from over, but at least they were getting their little Jaiden back home where she belonged. Lorelai still wished they could have helped her mother, but at least they could save her.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The whole way home, Jaiden was eager to get there and see Paul Anka. Instead of staring out her own window with her forehead pressed against it as she normally did on car trips, she kept leaning over to stare through the windshield as if to see if they were home yet.

To say how happy and relieved to have the little girl back with them where she was meant to be, would be an understatement. Both Luke and Lorelai couldn't help steal a look back at Jaiden, giving her a smile whenever her gaze met theirs. This was what they had been hoping for, for the little girl to feel excited about living with them.

After a while, April tried making small talk with her to help pass the time. "Everyone always asks me who drew that picture you made me."

Jaiden looked over at the teenager but didn't say anything, blinking a couple times.

"I think some of my friends are jealous they don't have a little sister that can draw them pictures like that." April gave a small chuckle to help lighten the mood.

Lorelai stole a look up into the rearview mirror to check on Jaiden when she wasn't responding. Jaiden looked away towards the floorboards at her feet. After a minute, she reached forward, grabbing her backpack and opened it up.

Jaiden pulled out her sketchbook, fanning her thumb along the edges before stopping. She then pulled out what looked like a photo and held it out to April, muttering something along the lines of an apology.

"What's this?" April took the photo from the little girl to get a look at it. She looked up at Jaiden. "You took this?"

Jaiden looked away, ashamed.

"Why did you take this from my wall for?"

"What is it, April?" Lorelai asked as Luke twisted around in his seat to see what going on.

She flipped the photo around to show them. "It's a picture Dad and I took the first summer we went out on the boat."

Lorelai's eyebrows rose. She hadn't seen any photo when she had been looking through Jaiden's sketchbook while packing for her. It must have been hidden inside another page she hadn't gotten to. Lorelai turned her attention towards Jaiden. "Sweetheart, why did you take April's picture?"

Both her and Luke saw Jaiden tense up. Her chin was pinned to her chest.

Luke reached back to gently rub a comforting hand over her knee. "You won't be in trouble, sweetie. We just want to know why you took it. It's not nice to take other people's things. Remember when you didn't like Doula taking your toy that one time."

Jaiden hugged her sketchbook to her chest below where her chin was still pinned. It was upsetting to hear her stuffed dog got stolen by another kid in the group home. The staff would have tried to help Jaiden get it back, but since she wouldn't talk to anyone, they couldn't, and by the time Luke and Lorelai got there, the kid had moved away, taking the dog with him. Lorelai had promised they'd get her a new one which Jaiden could even pick out this time if she wanted to. It was a good thing Stephen and Mallory had found and brought over the Diego action figure. At least she could still have one of her toys.

April also pointed out, "I'm not mad. I mean, I have another copy at my mom's house."

"You don't have to tell us, sweetheart," Lorelai spoke up. "But just ask one of us if you want something. Don't just take it. Okay?" They saw her head timidly nod.

Leaving the matter alone, they turned forward once more as Luke took his hand back. Lorelai made sure to thank April for not getting upset or giving Jaiden a hard time about the picture. It was awesome how much the older girl was onboard with the whole adoption thing. Some kids, including teenagers, can feel left out or threatened having a new kid join the picture, and take most of the attention away. Luke had made sure to let April know about everything when he and Lorelai started the whole process, and that he was going to try to give equal attention as much as he could. It helped that April was much older and was two of them were still planning on going on their yearly trip at the end of the summer before April had to go back to her mom's. It would even give some bonding time with Lorelai and Jaiden during the week they would be gone.

Now that the attention was off of her, Lorelai noticed Jaiden open her sketchbook and tear out one of the pages. She then held it out towards April, shyly, who had taken to looking out her own window, not noticing the little girl trying to give her another drawing.

"April," Lorelai grabbed her attention.

"Yeah?" She looked over at Lorelai briefly before noticing the paper. "What's this?"

"For you," Jaiden managed to softly murmur.

April took the picture and looked at it. A surprised look appeared on her face. "Is this why you took my picture?"

Jaiden timidly nodded and murmured another apology.

"It's okay. Like Lorelai says, just ask next time," April assured her. "I love it, though. Thanks." She then turned forward to pass the new drawing up to her dad. "Dad, check out what Jaiden drew for me."

Luke glanced over his shoulder. He twisted his arm back for her to place the picture in his hand, untwisting it to look at it. It was the same picture of the photo they took, except in pencil. "Wow, this looks amazing." Luke held it out so Lorelai could see it.

Lorelai glanced over at it while driving, keeping most of her attention on the road ahead. "You know, we should really look into getting you colored pencils or crayons, sweetie. So you can add some color to your drawings." She smiled up in the mirror at Jaiden. "How does that sound?"

Jaiden just gave a one-shoulder shrug.

Luke passed the picture back to April and turned the volume up a little on the radio to hear whatever was playing. It just so happened to be a Rascal Flatts song, one that was more upbeat and positive than the other songs Jaiden liked. This one was called _God Bless the Broken Road_ , but just like the others, Jaiden sang along and it could not have been any more perfect. At least about ninety-nine percent. Even though it was supposed to be a lover's song, it still rang true with not only Luke and Lorelai finding Jaiden, but Jaiden finding them, as well. Plus, Jaiden probably didn't understand its lyrics' true meaning.

Finally, Lorelai pulled into the driveway behind Luke's truck and turned off the jeep. When she stepped out, Lorelai folded her seat down to let Jaiden out, offering to hold her backpack and sketchbook for the kid.

"Welcome home, Jaiden," she said once Jaiden was out. Upon saying that, Jaiden's eyes watered as she stared over at the house. Lorelai kneeled to her level. "Never got to hear that, huh?"

Jaiden shook her head.

She wrapped an arm around the kid, pulling Jaiden in. Lorelai reached up to help wipe away the tears that escaped. "This will always be your home now. Always."

Jaiden looked from Lorelai, to the house for a minute, before returning back to Lorelai. The best part was the fact she hadn't tensed up when Lorelai wrapped her arm around her. Hopefully, that meant Jaiden was slowly starting to feel comfortable.

"Come on. Why don't we go see Paul Anka." Lorelai reached up to place a loving kiss on Jaiden's cheek. She then stood up and they followed where Luke and April had already gone inside. Before they got up the steps, Paul Anka was already bounding out the front door Luke had left open, making a beeline for the kid.

Jaiden dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around the dog's long, furry neck while the dog repeatedly licked her face.

Luke came back outside during the homecoming, stepping out onto the porch. He smiled as Luke slid his hands into his back pockets.

Lorelai joined him on the porch. "Who do you think missed who more?" She snickered.

"Hard to say," he told her, adding a snicker.

At some point, Paul Anka had somehow knocked Jaiden over, onto her back, still licking at her face. What made the moment even better was when they began to hear laughter coming from the little girl. A wave of relief washed over them and they couldn't help feel huge joy.

Even though Luke was very happy to actually hear laughter come from the kid, he couldn't help feel grossed out at the thought of having dog slobber all over one's face. In fact, when Jaiden did finally stand to her feet again, Luke suggested she go wash her face. Jaiden didn't need to be told twice and dashed inside to the bathroom.

Later, around dinner time, Luke began searching around to decide what to cook that evening. It took a while, repeatedly switching between the freezer and cupboard where the non perishable food was kept. That is until he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked over to see Jaiden standing just inside the walkway of the kitchen, hugging the end of the counter.

He smiled. "Hey, sweetie. You're just in time. I can't figure out what to make for dinner. Any thoughts?"

Jaiden looked away for a brief moment. She looked back to silently ask, "Can we have breakfast for dinner?"

Luke stared at her, confused. "You want to have breakfast for dinner?"

She timidly nodded, giving him a pitiful look as if he was going to start yelling at her any minute now for even thinking about such an idea.

Even though that has always sounded weird to him, having breakfast for dinner, Luke gave her a reassuring smile. "Okay, you got it, sweetie. Wanna help me? I missed having my little assistant while you were gone."

Jaiden brightened up at that and nodded.

"Hey, got something to show ya," he remembered. Luke turned around to open the cupboard under the sink. He reached inside to pull out a homemade step stool he had built for Jaiden, a couple weeks ago. Shutting the cupboard, Luke set it in front, kneeling to her level. "I made this for ya since you had a hard time reaching the sink." It was mostly to keep himself busy and his mind off of worrying about Jaiden during his time away from the diner Lorelai made him take. "It's sturdy enough even I can step on it without breaking it."

Luke encouraged Jaiden to try out her new step stool, inviting her over with a motion of his head. She slowly made her way over, hesitantly taking his hand when he offered to help her step up onto it, standing back up himself.

Now up high, Jaiden was able to reach both the faucet and the hand soap all on her own. Once she had finished washing her hands, Luke passed the dish towel to her to dry off her hands.

"You like it?" he asked.

She was still standing on it. Glancing down at the step stool, she nodded up at him. "Thank you."

Luke smiled. "You're welcome, sweetie."

"Um, is my...do I still have my tree house?" Jaiden asked, timidly.

"Yep, it's still out there." He also added, "I put your hockey equipment away in the garage when it rained last week, so they wouldn't get ruined. Whenever you're ready to use them just let me know, and I'll help ya set them back up."

Jaiden gave him another nod. Suddenly, she leaped off the step stool and grabbed onto him, hugging Luke around the legs. "Thank you," she murmured once more.

Luke held a hand to the back of her head. "No problem, sweetie. Things haven't been the same without ya," he informed her, though she said nothing.

After a while, Jaiden did let go and informed him she had to rewash her hands, pointing out the germs that pants accumulate throughout the day, where a person sits, when a person wipes their hands on their pants, etc. Luke tried to tease her about the fact she called him, dirty, but Jaiden didn't catch on that it was only a joke and he had to assure her, he was only teasing her, and let Jaiden wash her hands again. She also informed him that Luke should do the same. He went along with it and washed his hands again, as well, scrubbing for twenty seconds as Jaiden instructed he should do, too.

Luke let Jaiden help with the pancakes, this time, adding in blueberries they had in the fridge, while he cooked the eggs and sausage on the stove. Paul Anka was ready when he accidently dropped one of the sausages, quickly scarfing it down as if someone was going to take it away.

April was the first to smell the unusual dinner choice, walking into the kitchen. "You two are aware it's six-thirty _PM_ , right?" she questioned.

"I asked Jaiden for ideas for dinner, and she chose breakfast for dinner," Luke shrugged. "And since it's her first dinner being home, I thought we should let Jaiden decide what to eat tonight." He smiled over at the kid. "Right, sweetie?"

Jaiden nodded up at him, returning the smile.

Since dinner was about done, Luke suggested Jaiden go tell Lorelai while he served everyone's plates. Stepping down off her stool, Jaiden started to dash out of the kitchen. She stopped suddenly and quickly turned on her heels to apologize.

"For what, sweetie?"

She hesitated for a moment before replying, "For...running in the kitchen."

"It's okay, sweetie. Just be careful," he assured her.

Jaiden nodded and walked the rest of the way. Once she was gone, April complimented on the huge one-eighty the kid seemed to be since she was here during spring break.

Lorelai was upstairs sorting through her recorded shows/movies when Jaiden appeared in the doorway, hugging the frame.

"Hey, sweetheart. What's up?" she asked, acknowledging the kid.

"Um, dinner is ready. Da… Um, Luke says to come eat." Her face blushed beet red and suddenly couldn't hold eye contact with her anymore.

Lorelai caught the slip up, too and knew what Jaiden almost said. Almost called Luke actually. She just smiled over at the kid. "Okay. Thanks, sweetheart. I'll be right down."

Jaiden then quickly turned around and hurried back downstairs. Not long after she left, Lorelai heard a thump that connected with the floor. Switching off the TV and tossing it on the bed behind her, Lorelai walked out from the room just in time to see Jaiden sitting up on the rug they kept in the hallway, a corner flipped over, and holding her knee.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?"

Tears were filling up in her eyes which Jaiden tried to wipe away.

Lorelai kneeled beside the little girl, nudging her hand away from where she was holding onto her knee. "Let me see." Lifting her basketball shorts sleeve, Lorelai checked Jaiden's knee. Not even a bruise there, meaning Jaiden just bumped it. "Can I kiss it to make it better?"

Jaiden sniffed in. "Th-that won't m-make it b-better," she pointed out.

"Sure it will. Watch." Leaning over, Lorelai gave her knee a kiss. "How does that feel?"

She stared at it as if in thought. "Um, I guess it feels a little better." Jaiden gave a short shrug. She wiped her eyes dry with the back of her hand.

Lorelai just smiled at that little comment. "You would be surprised what a mother's kiss can make better." She gave a small chuckle.

Jaiden looked up at her. "Even the inside hurt?" She pointed at her chest with her finger.

Wrapping an arm around the little girl, Lorelai kissed her forehead. "Especially that." Jaiden managed to make direct eye contact that time. "Anyone tell you, you have beautiful eyes, sweetheart?"

Her blue-green eyes enlarged as if surprised to hear that and shook her head. Jaiden then dropped her gaze, looking away at the floor.

Lorelai gave her upper arm a comforting rub. "What is it, sweetheart?" Fresh tears appeared again. "It's okay. Say whatever is on your mind."

"My…" she started to say but no other words came.

"Your eyes, you mean?"

She nodded.

"What about them, sweetheart?"

Jaiden hesitated some more which Lorelai gave her arm another comforting rub. Finally, she admitted, "They... what make me ugly."

"Who told you that, sweetheart?" But Jaiden didn't answer that time, even though Lorelai gave her the chance to. "Well, sweetheart, whoever told you, your eyes made you ugly was wrong. You are a very beautiful little girl. And smart, too," she added, remembering what Katherine had stated about thinking her daughter wasn't very bright. Don't listen to anyone who tries to tell you, you're not. They're stupid for thinking that."

By this point, Jaiden was holding her head against Lorelai's shoulder. "Can...can I ask a question?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Did...did you really…?"

"Did I, what, sweetheart," Lorelai gently urged Jaiden on with more comforting rubs.

"Talk to Mommy?" Jaiden managed to lift her gaze up towards her again.

"That's right," Lorelai smiled. "Might've even became friends there, maybe." Her smile quickly vanished when Jaiden dropped her gaze once more. "I'm really sorry about what happened to your mom. Like I said, if you ever need to talk, we're always here for you. I promise not to push ya this time, though."

There was a long pause.

"Should we head downstairs and join Luke and April? I'm sure our food's getting cold." She snickered. But Jaiden remained unmoved. "What'cha thinking about, sweetheart?" Lorelai rubbed her arm one last time. What Jaiden said next sent a chill.

"You shouldn't of done that."

"Done what, sweetheart? Talk to your mom, you mean? Because I had to. Luke and I couldn't lose you. Not to your grandfather, anyway."

But she shook her head. Lorelai felt Jaiden's small body tense up once again. "Papa's gonna be mad," she managed to murmur, and suddenly bolted out of Lorelai's arms. Jaiden quickly got to her feet and made her way down the stairs before dashing into the kitchen where Luke and April were already sitting at the table, talking.

Jaiden headed straight to Luke and hid her face against him. He could feel her small hands grasp onto his flannel shirt.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Luke rubbed a comforting hand along her back.

Lorelai walked in next, just as confused but gave Luke a concerned look when he looked over to her for some kind of explanation, and mouthed, "Him."

Luke moved his hand to cup the back of her head to kiss it. "It's okay, sweetie. Nobody's gonna hurt ya. You're safe with us, I promise." Jaiden squeezed his shirt even tighter and could feel her tears now soaking it, even through his t-shirt underneath, prompting him to sing her their song.

Lorelai stood there, watching them, her own tears fighting their way to the surface.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Everyone got ready for bed shortly after dinner. Lorelai and April helped each other on the dishes while Luke and Jaiden got ready first. After he was showered and changed into pajamas, Luke sat on the edge of his side of the bed, catching a baseball game on TV. The volume wasn't loud, but it was enough to bring in a curious little girl to the doorway, sneaking her head in to catch a glimpse of the game.

Luke noticed of course. At first, he pretended to not have, seeing what she was trying to do. When Luke finally looked over, Jaiden flinched backwards. "Wanna watch the game?"

Jaiden glanced between him and the TV screen.

"You can come in and watch if you want." Luke was sitting with his left leg folded in towards him, still holding the remote in his hand. When he saw how weary the kid was to come inside their bedroom, Luke realized the bedroom probably wasn't a safe place in her mind, at least not theirs, especially when it was just the two of them. "I can put the game on downstairs if you like. Would you rather I do that?"

Jaiden timidly nodded.

Switching off the TV, Luke stood up and made his way around the bed, towards where Jaiden was still standing in the doorway. When he was close, she flinched away, stepping out into the hall.

Luke raised his hands, kneeling to her level. "It's okay, sweetie. It's okay," he assured her. "Nothing's gonna happen." Her little chest was rapidly moving in and out like she was running a marathon. Luke told her to take deep breaths, releasing them slowly. "It's okay, I promise."

Jaiden did as she was told. After a moment, her chest returned to normal breathing.

"Better?"

She nodded.

Glad things were able to calm down, the two headed downstairs where Luke turned on the TV in the living room. Lorelai heard the TV come on and tried to object from the kitchen, stating her and April called dibs already but Luke had to tell her, Jaiden wanted to watch the game too and didn't feel comfortable coming inside their bedroom yet.

Lorelai came in at that moment, kneeling beside where Jaiden sat on the end of the couch. "You don't want to watch a silly old baseball game, do ya? April and I were gonna try to find a movie on TV. You're welcome to join us instead."

Jaiden was balled up where she was sitting, watching her. Finally, after a moment, she pointed to the TV as the pitcher struck out the player at bat.

"Are you sure?" she asked, hopeful.

Jaiden nodded, timidly.

"Fine. You and Luke win," Lorelai gave in when it looked like Jaiden wasn't changing her mind. She stood up, turning to head upstairs, calling to April, "April, we've been relocated."

"Okay," she called back.

As Lorelai headed upstairs, she stuck her tongue out, immaturely, like a small child would, making Luke roll his eyes. He turned to look over at Jaiden. He leaned forward to grab the bottle opener and yanked off the cap to his beer.

"You like sports, huh?"

Jaiden nodded.

Luke took a swig before leaning back in his seat. "You know any players?"

That time, Jaiden shook her head.

"See that guy throwing the ball?" He pointed at the pitcher on TV. "That's Alfredo Aceves. He's the pitcher who throws the ball and tries to get the person who's batting there, Brian Anderson, out." Jaiden listened as Luke explained everything that was going on in the game. At one point, Lorelai returned, watching the scene from the stairs, thinking how cute it was and decided to snap a picture.

Eventually, a couple innings later, Luke finally remembered, "I thought you didn't like baseball."

Jaiden looked over at him. "I like to watch sports. I just want to play hockey."

"Oh," he nodded, "so you like all kinds of sports, but hockey's your favorite, is that it?"

She nodded up at him.

"Well, that's okay. Everybody's got their preference." Luke playfully punched at her upturned knee. "Would you like to pick up where we left off with your ice skating lessons?"

Jaiden suddenly nodded, very excited to continue the lessons.

It made Luke chuckle. "We'll go to the ice rink on Saturday, how's that?"

Again, she nodded.

He gave another playful punch towards her knee, turning back to the game. A little bit later, Luke decided now was good a time as any to ask how Jaiden would feel about going fishing with him. At least for a day.

"How would you feel about learning to fish?"

Jaiden looked at him again. "What's fish? A sport?" she asked in a soft voice barely above a whisper.

"Kind of. It can be a sport, but I just do it for fun," he explained, and went on to tell her about what fishing was where she could understand and how he had done it a lot with his dad, growing up. "How about it? I would teach ya in a kiddie pool before we went out to the lake, to teach you the basics."

Her eyes moved away as if to ponder on the thought.

"You don't have to answer right away. You can take all the time you need," he assured her. "April can even come with us if you don't want to come with me alone." With that said, the conversation was returned back to the game.

When the game finally ended, Luke turned off the TV before standing to his feet, stretching up towards the ceiling. "Time for bed," he smiled as Jaiden let out a big yawn, looking like a tiger cub trying to roar. "Ready, Tiger?"

Jaiden looked up at the sudden nickname as if caught off guard. Actually, Luke was too, but after seeing the gesture, he couldn't help decide to start calling her by that nickname. The scar on her cheek did sort of looked like a tiger stripe, thinking about it, and it was better than comparing it to the mob.

Luke smiled at her. "Come on, Tiger." He motioned to go upstairs. Luke made sure the front and back doors were locked, and turned out the lights on the way up.

The movie Lorelai and April had chosen to watch, ended a little bit ago. April was still up, reading when her dad and foster sister came in.

Jaiden pushed back the comforter, grabbing Diego from her nightstand before climbing into bed, underneath.

Luke sat on the edge of the bed, facing her, not wanting to intimidate the kid by standing over her. Of course, Jaiden requested the lullaby which Luke was happy to oblige. After singing it, he leaned over to kiss her on the forehead.

"Sweet dreams, okay, Tiger?" he told her, gently. "If there are any night terrors, though, I'll come in here and chase them away."

Jaiden nodded, clutching her toy in her hand.

Standing up, Luke moved over to lean a hand on April's headboard, kissing her forehead. "That goes for you as well," he told her with a smirk.

Unlike Jaiden, though, April gave her dad a strange look. "Dad, let me remind you." She pointed over at where Jaiden laid, "Eight," and pointed at herself, "sixteen."

Luke shrugged. "Doesn't mean you don't still get night terrors," he pointed out.

"Yes, but I'm pretty sure I don't need my dad to come in and 'scare' them away."

Luke just shook his head as he smiled at his oldest. "Good night, April."

"Good night, Dad," she at least replied before he left the room.

"Love you, girls," Luke called back once he was outside their room, looking over his shoulder.

"Love you too, Dad," April was the one to respond, briefly looking up from her book. He shared a look with Jaiden, giving her one last smile before heading for his room. Luke heard April ask Jaiden if she was okay with having her reading lamp on or not. Jaiden must have gave the okay because it stayed on.

Lorelai had already fallen asleep when Luke got in on his side. Reaching over, he planted a good night kiss on her lips while she slept, saying good night and that he loved her, as well. Luke then turned over to make sure his alarm clock was set and laid down on his pillow. As soon as he was settled, Lorelai turned over in her sleep, automatically cuddling up to him. It made Luke smile and drifted off to sleep while holding a loving arm around her.

The alarm went off at his usual wake-up time which Luke quickly shut off before it could completely wake Lorelai as she stirred a little, and got up. Having to open that morning, he got dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast, and checked in on all his girls, who were still sleeping. This morning was particularly hard to fully wake up, and definitely expected everyone else to still be asleep. No one was at all surprised when a few hours after they had gone to bed, the night terrors took its usual toll on the poor kid. Having stayed awake longer than she had meant to, reading, April was able to catch it before the storm hit, hearing Jaiden start to whimper in her sleep instead of the wails. So, the teen raced out of bed to try and wake her before that happened. After a few unsuccessful tries, she raced down the hall to fetch her dad, calling for him to wake up. Both Luke and Lorelai had woken up and quickly jumped out of bed.

Luke raced passed his oldest, to their room. By that time, her whimpers were starting to get louder and transition into the loud wails they had come to know. Luke got to work, trying to wake Jaiden, singing for her. After a few verses, Jaiden bolted out of her sleep and flinched out of habit before realizing who was sitting there with her. She then suddenly clung to his side, grabbing onto his shirt. Luke wrapped his arms around the little girl, soothing her with gentle words, assuring she was safe. However, when things seemed to smoothe over, and Luke tried pulling away to tuck her back in, Jaiden refused to let go. Exchanging a look over at his other girls, he ended up having to stay until she fell back to sleep.

By that point, Luke was exhausted. April had gotten back in bed, and finally fell asleep, while Lorelai had gone over to sit with him and Jaiden. All she could do, though, was pet Paul Anka, who was also there, between them, as Jaiden continued to cling to Luke.

As Luke watched the little girl sleep, he couldn't help wonder about the sudden clinginess she seemed to have all of a sudden towards him. It was him after all, Jaiden had been mostly afraid of since the beginning. She wouldn't even allow to be alone in the same room as him. Don't get him wrong, Luke was glad she was no longer afraid of him. But it still seemed strange it would be Luke she would cling to.

Lorelai was the next to wake up, a few hours after Luke left to go open the diner, and shortly after, so did April.

"How did things go after I fell asleep?" April asked as she poured a bowl of cereal while sitting at the table, pouring the milk in, next.

Now that the coffee was made, Lorelai poured some into a mug. "We ended up waiting till she fell back to sleep for your dad to be able to lay her down," she explained.

April screwed the cap back on the milk. Grabbing her spoon, she used it to press the cereal down before taking the first bite. "I can't imagine what it must have been like having my grandfather do something that horrible to me," she said once she swallowed. "Of course, I never knew any of my grandfathers on either of my parents' side, but still."

"It's awful what kids like Jaiden have had to deal with," Lorelai agreed, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard and took it over to the table, along with her coffee.

April kept mixing her spoon around in her cereal as she stared at it. "Do you think the nightmares will ever stop and Jaiden will be able to sleep through the night? I mean, I feel bad for what I said to Dad about being too old for nightmares, and that I need my dad to come in and scare them away. Anybody can have them, not just little kids. Sometimes, I just forget there's awful stuff Jaiden remembers and has to live with. Does that make me a bad sister? I mean, I hope I didn't make Jaiden feel bad. I tried to help her wake up before I came to get you and Dad…" The girl was starting to freak out and overexert herself.

Lorelai had to step in and calm April down before she had a mental breakdown. "April. April, honey. It's okay. It's okay," she assured her. "You're not a bad sister. Trust me, you've been really great with Jaiden. Yes, you should probably watch what you say around her, but stuff like that happens and you can't beat yourself up over it. Just be careful next time. Okay?"

She took a couple deep breaths, letting them out. "I know," April told her once she was able to speak again. "I just wish I could do more for her, you know? Be a good big sister. But Jaiden and I don't seem to have anything in common, and I'm scared she'll stop liking me."

Lorelai smiled at that. "I don't think you'll have anything to worry about, sweetheart," she assured the teen, gently pressing her hand on top of April's, that was laying on the table. "Considering she's made you the most pictures, kind of says something right there."

Hearing that made April return the smile.

"And you know, Sookie told me, getting involved and taking an interest in what she likes to do may help things. Showing Jaiden you're willing to put in the effort, even when you don't very much care or have the talent like she does, shows you care about her. She liked when I played hockey with her," Lorelai gave a quick shrug, taking back her hand to finally pour her own bowl of cereal. She quickly added in mid pour, "that is, until I hit three of her balls into the bushes. She did eventually forgive me, though."

April snickered. "From what Rory told me, it was pretty funny how she took the rest of her balls away before you could lose them, too."

"I'm sure it wasn't funny to Jaiden," Lorelai pointed out.

She stopped and nodded at that. "True. I'd be pretty upset at ya too." But both of them laughed. Not in a mean way, though. Looking back, it was sort of funny how protective Jaiden was of her balls, even though Lorelai wasn't trying to knock them into the bushes.

Jaiden ended up appearing in the entryway to the kitchen at that moment, dressed in a pair of boys' jean shorts this time, along with an old foster care fun event t-shirt that had a bunch of cartoon stick figures that were supposed to represent the kids holding hands on the front. She was rubbing at her eye like she was still trying to wake up.

"Well, good morning, sleepy head," Lorelai greeted cheerfully. "Did you sleep okay? At least for the most part?"

Moving her hand away, Jaiden looked around the room. "Where's Da…" Like the first time, she caught herself before starting over. "Um, where's Luke?"

April immediately looked over towards Lorelai when Jaiden almost said it. "Did she…?"

Lorelai silently shushed her, shaking her head to not say anything. Turning back to Jaiden, she said, "he had to go open the diner this morning. But he'll be back this afternoon." Lorelai stood up from the table, pushing her chair back in the process. "Would you like some cereal, sweetheart?"

"Yes, please," she replied.

"Go sit down and I will get you a bowl, okay?"

Jaiden made her way over to the table while Lorelai grabbed another bowl from the cupboard, bringing it over to set in front of the little girl.

"You know, Dad wants me to come help with the lunch rush, today. You can come with me if you want," April told her. Jaiden was reaching for the box of cereal, so she moved it closer within her reach which Jaiden thanked April for. "No problem. So, what do you think?"

Lorelai was sitting back in her own seat. "Or, you can come with me to the inn and hang out there."

Jaiden was now holding the box of cereal on her lap, opening the top. She lifted her hand to point over at April.

"You want to go with April to the diner?"

Jaiden timidly nodded.

April couldn't help grow excited. "You want to hang out with me today?" she asked.

Jaiden stared inside the cereal box. Her body tensed up with her arms pinned at her sides as she held it on her lap.

Lorelai figured it out without Jaiden having to verbally respond. "You want to go see Luke, am I right, sweetheart?" She still hadn't answered but Lorelai nodded. "It's okay, sweetheart, nobody's mad at you."

"Yeah," April agreed, even though her face showed a little disappointment, "it's okay if Dad's your favorite."

Her eyes stole a look at them for a moment but dropped right back down. Lorelai gently reminded Jaiden to pour her cereal and she'll help pour the milk for her, getting up again to grab a spoon, having forgotten to get one when she got a bowl.

After breakfast, Lorelai had to leave for the inn. She made sure to remind April to call if there were any problems. Before leaving, Lorelai leaned over to kiss the top of Jaiden's head, cupping her hand around the back of it.

"See you girls later," she waved at them both. April was the only one to respond though.

Meanwhile, Luke was busy taking orders and running them out to the customers when Caesar finished preparing them. The summer was usually the diner's busiest time of year with tourists passing through. He was so busy, Luke hadn't noticed his sister and her family come in and almost fell over when his niece clung onto his leg like a monkey.

He let out an annoyed sigh. "Doula, I've told you a thousand times. Don't grab onto my leg like that. Especially when I am holding food in my hands."

Without letting go, she said, giving her favorite uncle a puppy dog look, "I say hi to you, U'co Lu'."

"I know that, sweetie, but you still can't do it. Can you let go, please?"

"No," she replied with a smirk.

"Doula," he gave a warning look and looked over towards her parents for help. It was Liz who stepped in, peeling her away. It was a bit of a struggle but Liz managed to peel the toddler off of her uncle so he could bring the food over to their respectful owners, apologizing for the delay, and offered them a free refill on their coffee.

Heading back over afterwards, Luke returned the coffee pot to its place before leaning over the counter to kiss both girls' cheeks.

"So," Liz began. "How'd things go yesterday?"

TJ sat on the stool beside his wife and daughter. "Yeah, fill us in. What's the verdict. Is Jay coming home yet?"

Luke had grabbed the rag he had on the counter to quickly wipe it off before answering. "Actually, Jaiden's already home."

Both Liz and TJ brightened up at the news.

"She is?" Liz asked.

He nodded as TJ stated, "That's awesome."

"J'n home?" Doula spoke up at that point.

"That's right, princess." TJ leaned over to kiss the little girl on the cheek.

"So, does that mean Jay doesn't have to go live with her grandfather, after all?" Liz asked.

Luke nodded once more. "With DNA proof and the fact she only responded positive towards me, made them realize, it would be in better interest if Jaiden was in our care instead."

TJ scoffed. "I'm sure Grandpa's not too happy about that."

Tossing the rag to the side, Luke turned around to make another batch of coffee. "You know I can't discuss anything further, TJ," he reminded the guy, knowing what he was trying to do.

"Come on, buddy. Let us in with some of this mess," he tried to plead with him, holding his hands out in front of him. But Luke would not budge. He didn't want to risk losing Jaiden.

"I still don't get why you can't at least share with family," Liz shrugged.

"Because some have a big mouth." Luke glanced over in TJ's direction, indicting TJ was the one with the big mouth, though his sister was also a close second.

"Hey, I wouldn't say anything," he protested in defense as if offended.

Luke gave his brother-in-law a look that said he wasn't buying it. "It's better if Lorelai and I kept it to ourselves, and at least Rory and April." Lorelai had ended up confessing to Celia that she had told Rory about the last CFT meeting while upset. Celia wasn't mad. As long as Rory was willing to keep things confidential, she was willing to give the girls a pass, but that was it. Nobody else.

About that point, Luke looked up in time to see April walking by. It wasn't until she got to the door was when he saw that Jaiden was with her, thinking Lorelai would have her come to work with her. As soon as the door was opened, Jaiden rushed right over, grabbing onto his leg.

"Hey, Tiger," he greeted her.

Jaiden buried her face into his leg when Liz and TJ greeted her.

Doula tried protesting about Jaiden doing the same thing as she had done when April came over, stopping beside Liz. "Hey, Aunt Liz," she greeted. "Hey, Doula!"

The toddler's attention span was redirected towards her cousin. "A-p'l!" Doula reached out her arms towards her. Liz passed her off to April, who set Doula on her side. The cousins touched noses with each other, giggling afterwards.

April then turned her attention towards her dad to tell him, "Hey, Dad. Can I talk to you really quick?"

"Sure. Everything alright?"

"Um, I'm not sure. It's just something I've noticed on the way over here," she explained, casually shrugging one shoulder.

"Okay," he nodded and looked down at where his leg was still being held onto. "Hey, Jaiden, you mind letting go? I need to go speak with April about something." Jaiden didn't move, much less let go. "Sweetie, I'm glad you're happy to see me but I need for you to let go."

Liz offered to step in and help, coming around the counter. Luke held up a hand to halt her before kneeling to Jaiden's level. Unaware he was moving, Jaiden almost fell forward had he not been there to catch her. Luke moved his hands from her waist to her hands, holding them gently in his to prevent her from grasping onto him again.

"Listen, Tiger, April needs to speak with me privately about something important. Can you stay out here." He motioned his head towards Liz. "You remember my sister, Liz, right? And her husband, TJ," he motioned towards TJ, next, "and Doula."

Doula waved a hand up at her. "Hi, J'n!"

Jaiden didn't look up. Her chin was pinned to her chest.

Luke moved his head so he could look into her eyes. "I'll be right back. Okay?" It was then he noticed there was some fear burning in her eyes. Like she was afraid of something. "I promise. Nothing's gonna happen."

Her eyes lifted, meeting his.

Luke rubbed an assuring hand along her upper arm. Standing to his feet, he let Liz take over, motioning for April to follow. She set Doula down on her feet and followed him upstairs. Luke overheard Liz and TJ trying to make Jaiden feel welcomed back, like she had been away at camp or on a vacation. Once he and April were upstairs in the apartment, Luke asked, "What's going on?" concerned something was wrong.

"You know how Jaiden prefers her space and doesn't like anybody being close or touching her?" she began.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, on the way here, Jaiden was pretty much walking at my heels. In fact, every time I stopped, she would end up running into me. And that's another thing, she kept looking around as if she was looking for something or someone. I asked what was wrong but Jaiden wouldn't tell me. I could tell she was uncomfortable walking that close to me, but Jaiden just continued doing it."

Luke's eyebrows had rose as he was listening. Something was definitely wrong. There was even some clinginess with April, too?

"And there's more."

"What else is there?" he asked.

"This morning, over breakfast, I admitted to Lorelai that I was afraid Jaiden would stop liking me as a sister because we didn't have anything in common, so she told me I should take an interest in what Jaiden would like to do, at least until we get to know each other. So, I offered to play hockey with her, but Jaiden didn't even want to go outside, and when we had to leave the house to come here, it took a while to persuade her to leave. I had to remind her we were coming here where she wanted to go in the first place."

Luke held his hands on his sides. He reached up to rub the back of his neck. Thinking on what April was telling him, his mind went back to the night before when she had come running into the kitchen. In fact, thinking about it, it may not have been the sudden interest in baseball that brought Jaiden to spend time with him.

"I wasn't trying to be mean to her, Dad," April then started to admit. "I didn't know what to do," she shrugged. "I may have let out some frustration on her trying to get her out of the house. I apologized on the way here but I still feel bad about it."

"It's alright, April," he assured her. Leaving Jaiden alone with April during this point probably wasn't the best solution. It did show them something was indeed wrong, though. Thankfully Jaiden didn't lash out at her, so that was relieving to know. "With everything that's happening with her grandfather, I think it would be best if Jaiden was either with me or Lorelai. Not saying you did anything wrong. I'm sure you were trying your best, but none of this should have to land on your shoulders."

April nodded up at him. "Okay."

"Next time something like this happens, and for some reason Lorelai or myself aren't around, call us. Don't try to handle things yourself. Okay?"

"I will, I promise, Dad," she said. "Can I ask something else?"

"Of course."

"Can Jaiden's grandfather actually succeed at getting her back?" That time, April looked even more worried. Luke already knew about Howard sueing CPS and causing lots of trouble for everyone, including calling his daughter, a compulsive liar, trying to sound like he tried to be a good father to her but Katherine wasn't easy to raise. Luke never bought any of it, and felt disgusted the guy could even stoop so low. He even went as far as to say the DNA test was rigged to make him look like the bad guy.

Putting a hand on her shoulder, Luke said, "We're trying to do all we can to make sure that doesn't happen." He then pulled April in for a comforting hug, kissing the top of her head. However, it was short-lived when they heard commotion coming from downstairs. Luke sprung into action, throwing open the door before hurrying downstairs. For a brief second, he stopped in his tracks to see what the cause for the commotion only to see TJ trying to calm Jaiden down.

Springing forward, Luke rushed over to take over, telling TJ he will take over from there. Ignoring the looks of confused or worried customers who were watching, Luke took the little girl into his arms and started trying to calm her down, pinning her head with his arm wrapped around it. Once Jaiden heard Luke singing to her, her struggles ceased as they've done back at the group home.

"It's okay, Tiger. You're safe here, I promise," he softly assured her.

Once Jaiden started to relax, she buried her face into his chest. However, the little girl never completely calmed down. Luke could feel her small muscles were tensed and her body was shaking.

He looked up to locate his sister, finding her a few feet away, trying to comfort her own terrified little girl. "What happened?"

She shrugged. "We were only trying to talk to her, wasn't even expecting her to talk back. But every time the door opened and rang that bell, it would cause her to jump."

"Yeah," TJ nodded in agreement towards his wife. He looked over at Luke to add, "and every time, she'd jump higher. I thought she was gonna hit her head on the ceiling at some point," TJ nodded up above his head. "When she tried to run upstairs, I stepped in front of her, reminding her you and April were talking. That's when she freaked out even more."

Luke looked from TJ, to Liz, who confirmed it as well. He looked back down at Jaiden, who was still tensed and shaking. The front of his shirt was now soaked from what he could only guess were from her tears. Luke asked for her permission first to lift Jaiden with him so he could stand up, assuring, they were only going upstairs to get away from all the strangers watching. Being careful as he possibly could be, as if Luke was holding a fragile doll, he stood to his feet and carried Jaiden upstairs, asking April if she could pass out a round of refills on the house, apologizing for the commotion.

Once he got back upstairs, Luke gently nudged the door shut with his foot behind him. Having her chest pressed against him, he could feel her little heart was beating like crazy. Luke rubbed a gentle hand along her back when her arms had clung to his neck.

"What's going on, Tiger? Hm?" He knew Jaiden was more than likely too scared to speak, so Luke wasn't sure why he thought to ask. He wasn't expecting her to, though. "It's alright, sweetie. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise. Daddy's here." Luke wasn't sure where that last part had come from. As he walked around the room, rubbing a soothing hand along her back, the words just spilled out from nowhere. Lorelai hadn't even had the chance to tell him yet that Jaiden had almost called him, dad. Twice. But something came over him and Luke continued to say those words over and over, even singing their lullaby. The kid's grip on him never let up either.

After about twenty, twenty-five minutes and several paces around the room, Jaiden murmured, "Papa's gonna be mad."

It caught him off guard but Luke continued to rub soothing motions along her back. "He's not gonna hurt you, Tiger. I won't let that happen. He can't ever hurt you again." Luke kissed the back of her head before resting his own head against hers. "I promise."

He heard a whimper escape. "Papa's gonna be mad," she repeated. "Couldn't tell."

His eyes closed at that. It was now apparent just how scared this kid really was. "I know, Tiger. I know," was all Luke could say as he continued to pace around the room as he continued to rub her back.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

After checking in with Michel, Lorelai headed for the inn's kitchen to grab another cup of coffee. Sookie was planning the lunch and dinner menus for that day, looking up when she came in.

"Hey," Sookie greeted cheerfully. "How'd it go yesterday?"

Lorelai grabbed a hold of the coffee pot, pouring some into a mug. "It went very well. Jaiden responded to Luke just as Celia thought she would."

"Oh, that's wonderful. So, does this mean Jaiden's coming back?"

Lorelai blew on the steam before taking a sip. "She's already back with us. Celia let us take her home yesterday."

Sookie lit up even more, beaming from ear to ear. "That's awesome, Lorelai. Congratulations. So, can you start the adoption process?"

"Not quite yet. We still have to wait until we hear from the judge and how he feels. But Celia says we're making better progress than any other couple has," Lorelai pointed out.

She smiled. "Of course. You're not like other couples." Sookie snickered at that statement.

It made Lorelai return the smile. "I just can't get over how much easy it's coming for Luke, though."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, the relationship between Luke and Jaiden seem to be rolling out easier than the one between me and Jaiden. Luke doesn't seem to work as hard as I seem to. It was Luke who was drawn to Jaiden and chose to take her in. Jaiden spoke to him first, started warming up to him first. Sure we're doing better now, but things seemed more rockier between us than it was for Luke. Even still, if Jaiden has a choice, she picks Luke."

"Well, Luke's a nice man. Jaiden probably feels safe around him. Something she probably has never felt in her life. You just gotta give it a little more time."

Lorelai took another sip, setting her coffee down on the counter behind her. "I know, I know. I just can't help feel…" She tried to search around for a particular word.

"Jealous?"

"I mean, I wouldn't say jealous."

Sookie snickered some more. "It's okay to feel jealous, hun, especially after raising Rory alone and not being used to having to share a kid with somebody."

"Adopting a kid was my idea when he was all skeptical about it," she pointed out.

"Luke's skeptical about a lot of things until he gives it a try."

"True." Both ladies laughed at that.

"Hey, I got an idea," Sookie said.

Lorelai asked, "What?"

"When's Jaiden's next birthday?"

"Unfortunately not for another year. Why?" she answered.

Sookie frowned, looking brokenhearted. "It already passed?"

Lorelai nodded. "If I remember right, her birthday is January twenty-fourth."

"I was thinking of possibly throwing her a Welcome home birthday-type of party," Sookie admitted. "I bet she hasn't even had a party before."

"I don't know if Jaiden's even ready for a party with a bunch of people around. It might freak her out."

"Honey, how do you expect Jaiden to get used to everyone if you keep isolating her from us?" Sookie questioned, meaningfully.

She shrugged. "I just want Jaiden to get used to our small family before introducing her to the craziness we call our family and friends. She's very skittish right now."

Sookie shook her head. "I'm not saying, throw her a extravagant surprise party. But if we show her how much we love and care about her, Jaiden might begin to feel it. What better way to know you're cared about by having a day dedicated to you?"

"I guess I can talk to Luke about it," said lorelai. "And ask how Jaiden would feel about a party."

Besides, so what if her birthday is late this year? What kid would want to turn down a party? I can even make the cake any way she wants."

"I'm sure Jaiden would love a Diego cake," Lorelai couldn't help input with a smile.

"And I can bring Jackson and our kids," she added.

"Okay. We'll discuss it tonight and get back to ya," Lorelai finally agreed, making Sookie happy again, giving a little cheer. While she was cheering, though, Lorelai's cell phone rang. She took it out of her pocket to see who was calling. It was Celia. "I gotta take this, Sook. It's Jaiden's caseworker."

"Okay. Don't forget," Sookie pointed at her as Lorelai flipped her phone open to answer the call, turning to leave the kitchen.

Grabbing her coffee on the way out, Lorelai headed to her office. "Hey, Celia. What's up?"

"Hey, Lorelai. How are things so far?"

She nodded repeatedly. "Pretty good. Jaiden was glad to be home and got a faceful of dog slobber as a welcome home present." Lorelai laughed at that.

"Sounds like quite the welcome home greeting," Celia snickered right along with her.

"Yeah. Luke made her go wash her face afterwards, though."

"I pretty much would too, to be honest," she agreed.

Lorelai carefully waved the hand holding her coffee through the air. "Oh, what's a little dog slobber."

"Nothing if you don't mind the fact they drink out of the toilet and lick themselves. Mine eats his own poop. The vet had to give us this stuff to sprinkle on his food that makes his poop taste bad."

Lorelai stared at nothing in particular as if thinking on that last thought. _Make his poop taste bad?_ "And it works?"

"Well, no, I'm pretty sure he's still eating it," she admitted. "That dog will eat anything, I swear."

"Uh, yeah, if you're eating poop, I can't imagine someone thinking anything else is gross," Lorelai pointed out.

"True."

Now back at the front desk, Lorelai asked Michel to keep managing the desk while she went into her office. Closing the door to her office with her elbow, Lorelai set her coffee on the desk. "I do feel I should mention while Jaiden and I were talking, Jaiden mentioned something about her grandfather being mad when I confirmed I had talked to her mother. Then she took off and ran for Luke."

She heard Celia let out a tired sigh. "Yeah, he's very upset. Remember I said he's suing CPS?"

"Yeah?"

"Jaiden's regular scheduled six-month court hearing is still on for August. That hasn't changed. However…" There was a pause.

"Celia?"

"We have another hearing next week," she finally admitted. "Howard's not happy at all to have his visits with Jaiden taken away from him and he wants them back. He's got a big shot lawyer and everything. In fact, we just got the paperwork this morning to appear in court."

"What does this mean? He can't actually expect to win, can he?" Lorelai couldn't help feel anxious. They couldn't let Jaiden go back with this man.

"I don't know. Some people believe they can just buy what they want, I guess," Celia replied. "And with Katherine unable to appear and back up her confession…"

"No."

"I'm afraid…"

Lorelai didn't let her finish. "No. Celia, we can't. The whole point of me going to talk to Katherine was so Jaiden didn't have to feel pressured anymore."

"I'm sorry, Lorelai. Yes, we have it written down and have witnesses. But they're gonna want to have Jaiden take the stand as well as she's the only one left who can help testify against him that he did indeed do something to her."

"But even after confessing and the cat out of the bag, Jaiden's still terrified. She's not gonna want to say anything, especially not with her grandfather in the room."

"I know, Lorelai," she replied with sympathy. "But we don't really have a choice. You said you had a lawyer, right?"

Lorelai sighed while rubbing a hand along her eyes. She stopped to respond. "Yeah, my father is getting us one."

"Well, hopefully, we can beat him and put all this behind us for Jaiden's sake. Now that there's some level of comfortableness with you and Luke, maybe this time Jaiden is willing to share," Celia said with hope.

"What about Erica? Is Jaiden still supposed to meet with her?"

"Not anymore. When Jaiden was moved to the group home, her case was switched to their services, so I have to get her switched back to Erica's office."

Lorelai perked up at that. "Wait, so Jaiden might get paired up with a different therapist?"

"Um, probably not. I'll probably request Erica again since she's already familiar with Jaiden's case. With all that's going on, it might not be the best idea to bring somebody new in right now," she explained.

"But Jaiden doesn't like talking to Erica. Couldn't we find somebody a little more...nicer?"

"That's not a legitimate reason to place Jaiden with somebody else, I'm afraid. But I'll see what I can do. If another client already filled Jaiden's old time slot, maybe someone else can pick her up instead."

"I really hope so. Every time I try to leave, Jaiden doesn't want me to. Maybe Jaiden would willingly be alone with someone else that wasn't so...um, strict and straightforward."

"If you're referring to the hockey and guns thing, again, that's not a legitimate reason to switch to somebody else. Hockey, I can understand where you're coming from, but I have to agree, Jaiden doesn't need to be drawing pictures of guns. At our office, we don't even allow toy guns to be donated to the children, nor do we let the children make a gun from their hands even if it's just pretend."

"But Jaiden loves that stuff, and she knows and understands the safety of guns, and what's reality and what's only done in movies. We've talked about it," Lorelai tried to protest.

"That may be but it's still not cause to switch to another therapist. Like I said, though, we'll see who they place her with. If they place her with Erica again or if she gets placed with someone new. Okay?"

Lorelai let out another sigh. "Yeah, okay." Celia apologized before they ended the call.

Later that evening, Lorelai met the rest of her family at the diner, greeting Luke with a kiss. Luke could see something was bothering her.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Celia called this morning, though," she admitted.

"And? Everything okay?"

"We have court next week."

His eyebrows rose at that. "But I thought that wasn't until August?" he questioned, confused.

"Oh no, that's still on," she assured him. "No, this has to do with Jaiden's grandfather suing CPS."

"Okay, and? It's not like he's gonna win."

"It's not that."

"What is it?" he asked.

Lorelai looked around the place for sign of Jaiden. "Where's Jaiden?"

"Upstairs, napping. Why, what's wrong?"

Taking in a deep breath, Lorelai let it out before she told him. "Jaiden may have to speak in court, next week."

"No," he replied in shock, his shoulders dropping.

She nodded her head.

"There is no way Jaiden's gonna speak up in a courtroom full of strangers, especially with her grandfather there, watching her."

"That's what I said, but Celia says it may come to it. With Katherine gone, Jaiden's the only one who can still testify against her grandfather." She shrugged her hands out on the counter.

Luke dropped his head as he squeezed his eyes shut. He then pounded the counter with the side of his fist a couple times.

"I don't like this either, Luke. Neither does Celia. But like it or not, Jaiden _is_ the only one that can help bring that man to justice."

Luke turned away in hesitation. When Lorelai asked about it that's when he told her about what happened that day, including with April.

Lorelai dropped her face in her hands. Admittingly, a part of her wondered if she should have let Jaiden come with her to the inn instead. Guess she should have. "Both girls are okay, though?"

Luke nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine now."

"I called my father afterwards. He told us he'll invite his friend to dinner on Friday for us to meet him."

Again, he nodded. It was difficult meeting her gaze. But he did anyway. "You should have seen how scared she was, Lorelai," he admitted, softly. "How much she was shaking. That kid's scared. More scared than she's ever been so far."

"I can't imagine," she agreed.

Luke glanced out the corner of his eye when he saw something move. It was Lorelai who said, "Hey, sweetheart. You just wake up?"

Jaiden was standing in the doorway, rubbing at her eye with her fist.

Luke turned around to kneel to her level, holding his hands out to her, letting Jaiden come to him. Jaiden took a couple timid steps before hurrying over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Luke then lifted her up onto his side, kissing the side of her forehead.

Lorelai leaned forward on the counter. "Hey, my friend Sookie wants to do something special for you. Have you ever had a birthday party before?"

Jaiden stared over at her from where she held her head on Luke's shoulder. She shook her head.

She exchanged a quick, sad look with Luke at the thought of not having a birthday party, ever. "I know your birthday already passed this year, but what would you say if we threw you a Welcome Home/late birthday party for ya? Sookie says she'll make you any kind of cake you want, even a Diego cake. We'll invite all our friends and it'll be a whole fun day all about you. What do you think, Jaiden?"

Jaiden just plainly shrugged making both of them smile.

"Can we give it a try?" Lorelai encouraged. "Sookie makes the best cakes, and she'll probably make most of the food, too. She's the best chef I know. What do you say? Can we do it?"

Still a little hesitant, Jaiden gave a short nod.

"We can have the party?" she asked, excited.

Jaiden gave another nod, a little longer this time.

Lorelai looked over to Luke. "Should we do it this Saturday, maybe?"

"I already promised her we would resume the skating lessons on Saturday," he told her. "How about Sunday? That's still the weekend."

"That could work. Yeah, let's do it Sunday." She turned back to Jaiden. "We're gonna have your party on Sunday, okay?"

Jaiden gave a third timid nod.

"It'll be a late birthday for this year, though. So, we're still celebrate your ninth next January. Okay," she assured the little girl.

A fourth nod.

Lorelai smiled before leaning even closer to kiss Jaiden on the cheek. "Love ya, sweetheart," she said, playfully grabbing onto her arm. Lorelai smiled bigger when she saw Jaiden smile a little.

"We all do," Luke added and gave Jaiden another kiss. His, he placed on her forehead.

They both knew they were going to have to tell Jaiden about the court hearing next week, eventually, but thought it best to save that bit of news for the privacy of their own home as not to draw anymore unwanted attention again. At least for now they could make her happy.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Having had dinner at the diner, Lorelai told Luke she would meet him at home. April decided to go with Lorelai, ready to be home already after a long day. Jaiden, on the other hand, wanted to stay and wait for Luke. Since he opened that morning, he trusted Caesar to close and lock up at the end of the night. So, shortly after the girls left, Luke finished up, making sure the next day's order was put in before heading for home, as well.

"Ready, Tiger?" he asked of Jaiden, poking his head in the back where Jaiden was sitting on the lower part of the stairs. She stood to her feet and walked over to him. Once they got outside, Jaiden moved even closer than she already was.

Luke opened the passenger side of his truck, letting Jaiden climb in before shutting it for her, and made his way around to the driver's side, hopping in under the steering wheel. He then started the engine before fastening his seatbelt, reminding Jaiden to do the same.

"Need help?" he offered, noticing Jaiden was having a little trouble with the seat belt. The old thing sometimes got stuck every once in a while. She tried a few more times before nodding her head over at him. Undoing his own seatbelt, Luke scooted a bit closer to reach over there, having Jaiden scoot forward on the seat. He had to push it back inside its compartment before trying to yank on it again. Eventually, Luke had to get out and come back around to work with it better. It made things a little easier and finally, he was able to pull the seat belt out for Jaiden to be able to fasten across her front.

"The seat belt does that sometimes," he explained to her once Luke was back in his seat, fastening his own seat belt. "I've been meaning to replace these old things." Luke reached over to turn on the radio, switching from the oldies station he had been listening to that morning, to a country station for Jaiden. Kenny Chesney was singing his song, _Everybody wants to Go to Heaven_.

Luke pulled away from the curb and headed around the block to head in the direction of home. Things were quiet except for Kenny. The song was already close to ending. When it did, Luke caught Jaiden looking over at him like she had something on her mind to say.

"Need something, Tiger?" he asked, glancing over at her while keeping most of his attention on the road ahead.

Jaiden hesitated, grabbing onto her own upper arm.

"Whatever's on your mind you can say, I promise," Luke assured her.

"What's...What's h-heaven?" she eventually asked, timidly.

"Heaven?"

She timidly nodded. Luke was able to see it with the street lights.

"Uh…" Luke never really had to explain that kind of thing before. He rubbed a hand on the back of his neck. "Well, it's where God and all His angels live." He glanced over at her again, catching a confused look. "Do you know who God is?"

"I hear Him in songs," Jaiden pointed at the radio.

Now, he had to explain who God was. "Yeah, a lot of country singers sings about Him," Luke nodded at the road. He glanced over at her again. "He watches over us from heaven. He created Earth, and us, and everything we humans didn't make. Nobody's seen Him, though. Or, at least those who are alive haven't seen Him." Not a spiritual kind of guy, Luke wasn't sure if he was doing alright with this explanation or not. "You know, I'm sure Lorelai could do a better job at explaining who God is if you want to ask her. April's kind of skeptical about Him so you probably don't want to ask her, but Lorelai would definitely be a good choice. To ask, I mean."

Jaiden watched him until she turned away, seeming like she accepted his answer. Then Luke watched her while keeping an eye on the road. Rascal Flatts' _Mayberry_ was playing this time. Being her favorite band, of course she would sing along under her breath.

Finally, he mustered up to ask, "You doing okay? From earlier today, I mean?"

Jaiden dropped her gaze from her window to the door handle.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay. Like I promised, no one's gonna hurt ya. Lorelai and I are here for you. We won't skip out on you like others have, and if there's anything on your mind like your question about God, you can come to us about it. I may not be great at the whole explaining thing but I'll try my best." Luke hoped mentioning that would make things easier than coming out and telling Jaiden about the trial next week. He noticed her knees rise up towards her chest and hugged them to her.

It was a short drive home. Luke pulled in behind Lorelai's jeep and parked before sliding out. He had Jaiden slide over to his side but before she climbed down, Luke placed his hands on his knees to be able to look at her at eye level.

"You're a great kid, Tiger. I don't want you feeling like you're not, and whatever lie your grandfather's got you believing, don't listen to him. Between you and me, the guy's a jerk and he's not gonna get away with what he has done. We'll make sure of it. Okay?"

Jaiden looked up at him and nodded. "Papa...mad," she whimpered, softly.

"I know." Luke held out his arms to offer to help her down. Jaiden accepted his help and let him lift her down on her feet, out of the way so he could shut his door. She stuck by his side until they got inside. Jaiden made sure he locked the front door behind them when he shut it.

Paul Anka came to greet them, and by them, it was actually just Jaiden. Jaiden kneeled down to hug the dog's neck. Luke let them be, heading for upstairs to get ready for bed.

Lorelai met Luke halfway down the stairs, asking how the drive home went. Luke assured things were just fine before continuing up. "Hey, sweetheart. Are you gonna shower tonight? Or no?"

Jaiden nodded up at her while rubbing Paul Anka's stomach, who was now lying on his back, enjoying the attention.

"Can you go get ready for bed then? There's something I need to talk with you about." She quickly added, "you're not in any trouble, I swear. Just something important we need to discuss. Okay?"

Jaiden nodded but still looked unsure. She did stand up to head for upstairs.

Lorelai touched a gentle hand to the top of her head as Jaiden walked by. "I'll come find you later. Okay?" She watched the little girl head up the stairs, smiling for her when Jaiden turned around on the second part.

Lorelai gave the kid about forty-five minutes before ducking her head in the girls' room. Jaiden was waiting for her, drawing in her sketchbook on her lap. She asked to come in first before heading over to sit on the foot of Jaiden's bed, sitting cross-legged, holding her hands in her lap.

"May I ask what you're drawing, sweetheart?"

Jaiden hesitated at first before showing Lorelai her latest drawing. At first it looked like Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider movie, but she pointed to Lorelai.

"It's me?"

"As her," she uttered softly.

"Aw, cool. So I'm an action hero, huh?"

Jaiden nodded. "Dad's going to be Arnold Shors…" She stopped herself, seeming like she was having trouble saying the actor's last name. Lorelai knew who she meant.

"Schwarzenegger," she helped the kid.

Jaiden nodded.

"That's gonna look cool. I can't wait to see Luke as Arnold Schwarzenegger." Lorelai went along with Jaiden's imagination. She knew Jaiden liked action heroes because they stopped bad guys from hurting innocent people. Like Schwarzenegger and Croft. That was one of the reasons TJ had been successful with introducing her to the superhero comic books. "And maybe when you grow up, you can make us into a cartoon where we fight crime and kick bad guys' butts. We can be like a dynamic duo who fights crime as a couple."

Jaiden perked up. "I can make my own cartoons when I grow up?" she asked in surprise.

"Yeah, there are jobs for that. That's how Diego got on TV. Somebody thought, 'hey, let's make a little boy who can talk to animals and speak Spanish. Alright, start drawing, Phil'." Lorelai changed her voice for each person.

The kid just stared at her with a puzzled look.

"Just guessing that's how the process went," she shrugged. "But yeah, you can surely go to college and learn how to make cartoons. You got the talent for it, definitely."

"But I don't like school. It's too hard," Jaiden admitted.

"Well, sweetheart, sometimes we gotta do things we don't want to do so we can do the things we _do_ want to do. And your teachers said you were doing a great job catching up."

She shook her head. "Still not smart. Not like the other kids."

"It's not about being smart. We all learn at different paces. For some, school comes easy, and for others, you have to work extra hard. But I can promise you, if you keep at it, you will get it. School isn't a race to see who is smarter than everyone else. It's about getting an education to better yourself at your own speed. It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks, you are capable of great things, Jaiden. It just takes a lot of hard work. And one day, I will turn on the TV and I will watch every single cartoon you create. Unless you decide to make movies, then even better, because I can stand up in the theater and yell out, 'that's my Jaiden's movie!'" Lorelai pointed out at an imaginary movie screen as she called out to nobody. She chuckled, looking back at Jaiden. "Plus, your story can help others also reach their dream. A kid who had a rough start grows up to make cartoons, and Luke and I will be there with you, to support you every step of the way."

Jaiden wiped at her eye. "Promise?"

Lorelai held out her pinky finger to her. "Pinky promise."

Just like she done with Luke, Jaiden timidly stretched out her own pinky, wrapping it around Lorelai's.

"You can do anything you set your mind to, kid. Don't let anybody tell you any different," she told her afterwards.

"Anything?"

"Well, not everything. You can't drive until you're sixteen, so no taking the car out for a late night spin. And Luke agrees you can't date until you're thirty-five, and you can't sprout wings and suddenly learn to fly so no jumping off the roof. Oh, and you can't do anything crazy unless I can join in the fun, too." Lorelai listed off a few don'ts for Jaiden, mostly to be funny. "But other than that, you're good." She smiled at her.

"Um...can...What about…?"

Lorelai encouraged the kid to ask her anything. "There are no such thing as a stupid question."

Jaiden tried to meet her foster mom's gaze but kept looking away, fidgeting with her pencil in her hands.

"If it helps, whenever I have a hard time getting something out, I just say it fast. As fast as I can before I can change my mind."

Taking a long breath, Jaiden blurted out, "Can I call you, Mom?" Her cheeks around her scar turned bright red afterwards and her body tensed up. Lorelai thought for sure she was going to snap her pencil in half by the way she was holding onto it. In fact her eyes were shut tight like Lorelai would yell at her or worse, might hit her.

But Lorelai was frozen in surprise by the question, taken completely off guard. Here she was, having been worried about not being able to do much and being jealous of how easily Luke's relationship with Jaiden came about, and already calling Luke, dad, and then Jaiden asks to call her, mom, as well? So, Lorelai was doing something right?

Once the shock blew over, though, Lorelai smiled for her. "Oh, sweetie. Of course you can call me, Mom, if you want to. As far as anyone's concerned, I already consider you my daughter just as much as Rory is. That's why we're going to great lengths to make sure you can live with us, permanently."

Jaiden looked up at that. "You don't regret me?"

"Of course not, sweetheart. You fit into our family, perfectly. You're the missing final piece we've been waiting for."

At that moment, tears filled up in the little girl's eyes. Suddenly, she shot up and threw herself across the bed and onto Lorelai, wrapping her arms around her neck.

"Thank you…" There was a pause of hesitance. "...Mommy."

Hearing being called mommy again ended up bringing tears to Lorelai's own eyes. She tried to sniff them back to be able to reply, "you're welcome, sweetheart." It still showed in her voice, though.

Jaiden lifted her head to look at her. "Did I do something wrong?"

Lorelai wiped her eyes. "No, sweetheart. I'm crying because I'm happy." She couldn't help let out a small laugh when Jaiden gave another puzzled look. She felt guilty for laughing at the kid's confusion. "Yes, sometimes, crying can mean happy, too. You're so happy you can't help shed a few tears." She was holding her arms around Jaiden's legs as Jaiden stood on her knees, in front of her.

"But I...I didn't make you upset?"

"No, not at all," Lorelai assured.

Jaiden shook her head. "I never seen someone cry because they were happy."

Lorelai pulled her in where Jaiden was sitting sideways in her lap. "You can laugh until you cry, too."

"I don't laugh that much," she admitted.

"Really? Not even when somebody tickled ya?" Lorelai suddenly tickled at her ribs and stomach. Suddenly, Jaiden reacted and shot out of her lap, scooting away from her. Her eyes were wide as she was leaning back on her hands.

Holding up her hands, Lorelai apologized. "I'm sorry, Jaiden. I didn't mean anything by it. I wasn't trying to hurt you or make you feel uncomfortable." It hadn't occurred to her harmless tickling could trigger a bad memory for Jaiden.

Thankfully, about that time, Luke stuck his head in, having heard the commotion once he came out of the bathroom. "Everything alright in here?"

Jaiden quickly scampered off the bed and hurried over to grab onto Luke's leg. Lifting her up, Luke set Jaiden on his side.

"What happened?" he asked, coming over where Lorelai was still sitting on the bed. Jaiden had latched on to his neck while Luke was rubbing circles on her back.

"I wasn't thinking and tried to tickle her. It must have reminded her of what happened." Again, she tried to apologize to the little girl, feeling even more guilty. _Darn it!_ The guy even ruined something that was supposed to be harmless fun. Was it even possible to hate him more at this point?

Luke shifted the kid so he could take her place on the bed, setting her on his lap. "You know, I've been thinking about what you said earlier, you know, at the diner. About throwing a party for Jaiden," he said.

"Yeah, I figured we would keep things small. Not invite a lot of people. Maybe keep it to our family and very close friends. Plus, it works out that Rory will be here this weekend for Friday's dinner," Lorelai replied but Luke shook his head. "What?" she asked confused.

"Look, I think it's great and all what Sookie's trying to do, but with everything that's going on with her grandfather, and her being uncomfortable whenever something gets close. I mean, Doula's still learning, and Sookie has three young children, too."

"I'm pretty sure Davey and Martha will understand boundaries a little bit better than Doula does," Lorelai pointed out. "And Oliver's barely learning to walk."

Luke stared at her. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked as if offended.

"Nothing. I just mean they're older than Doula is, and hence, a tiny bit more mature and understanding," she explained.

"Okay, that may be, but maybe this isn't the best time to be throwing a party. At least not until after the trial and after her grandfather is history." Luke was running a gentle hand along Jaiden's back who was curled in a ball on his right leg.

"I thought so too, but Sookie does have a point we shouldn't keep isolating her from everyone. Don't you think it's time we start having Jaiden get to know our friends and family?"

"Yes but not all at once. Liz hasn't even gotten her one-on-one time with her," he reminded her. "I think we should try that first before we bombard her around everyone. We could have Sookie and Jackson over for dinner, just us, if you want, but not a whole party. At least not now. I kind of want to get through next week first. Can we do that? Please?" Luke could feel Jaiden grip onto his shirt, tightly in her hand at that. It made him look down. "I think Jaiden agrees," he glanced up at Lorelai before returning to Jaiden. "Right, Tiger?"

Luke felt her head nod against his chest.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, and that's what I told Sookie, basically."

"Our friends just aren't used to being left out, that's all," he gave a quick shrug. "They're all used to feeling included in our lives, and need to understand we can't rush things. Like I said, let's get this thing with her grandfather taken care of, then we'll work on Liz having her time with Jaiden she's surprisingly been waiting patiently for, then we'll see about having Sookie and them over." It was indeed amazing how well his sister was handling this whole situation with Jaiden. Patience didn't exactly work well with Liz, always wanting to jump ahead at things and wanting to help. Luke knew she always meant well along with TJ, but neither one usually put much thought into things like he did. But now Liz seemed to be proving him wrong and Luke couldn't help feel proud of his sister which was why he wanted Liz to have her time to bond with Jaiden first.

Lorelai nodded. She couldn't believe how serious Luke was about all of this. During the classes, Luke looked so bored when in actuality, he was very much paying attention. It had even surprised him to be honest, especially when meeting Jaiden.

With that said, Luke turned his attention to their small charge. "I guess you now know there's a court trial next week, huh?"

Jaiden didn't lift her gaze.

"We haven't really talked about it yet," Lorelai pointed out. Though, she figured Luke was referring to the fact he had brought it up a few times while they were just talking. "Jaiden, sweetheart. Please understand, I tried very hard to get you out of it."

Luke brushed some blond hair behind her ear. "We'll be right there in the courtroom with you, though." They knew Jaiden's already been to her own court hearings several times, just haven't been forced to speak. "But there's a chance they're gonna want to ask you some questions regarding your grandfather." He felt her grip tighten even more.

"We know it's gonna be real scary for you," Lorelai added.

"They may not even make you actually speak," Luke added. He gave a shrug. "They may just ask you to point him out. That might be easier. Right?" Jaiden said something but it was muffled against him. "What, sweetie? We can't understand you." Luke gently nudged her, shifting Jaiden on his lap where they could understand her clearer.

"Papa gonna be mad," she repeated. Her form was starting to tense up again and Luke could feel her little heart start to race.

Lorelai scooted closer to run a gentle hand along her back. "He can't do anything to you anymore, sweetheart. There's gonna be a lot of people there, including an officer who can stop him before he reaches you." She made sure to be extra careful this time without causing Jaiden to flinch.

She sniffled. "It'll be my fault."

It was low enough only Luke caught it. "What would be your fault, Tiger?" But Jaiden hid her face in his green shirt again without answering. "Nothing will be your fault, Tiger. Whatever happens to your grandfather, he did it to himself. He had no right for what he did to you and your mother. You are not responsible for the bad decisions he made. Not at all. You're only responsible for the decisions you make. Okay?"

Jaiden shook her head against him. He could feel tears soaking through his shirt. This time, her mouth wasn't muffled against him. "Don't want to see Papa." Her whimpers broke each of their hearts.

"I honestly wish we can promise you didn't have to, Tiger." Luke gave her a gentle squeeze and kissed the top of her head. "I'd give anything not have to make you step in the same room. I promise we will be there with you, though, if that helps. We won't leave you alone with him."

That time, Jaiden finally lifted her gaze up towards him. Their eyes met. "Promise?"

Luke held out his pinky. "We'll do our best," he said once Jaiden wrapped hers around his. Luke then leaned back against her headboard and sang her the lullaby as she laid her head back down on his chest.

Lorelai ended up standing to her feet and leaving the two alone. When she returned later, both of them had fallen asleep right there, with Jaiden's head still on his chest. Not having the heart to wake either one of them, Lorelai went over to cover both Luke and Jaiden with the comforter, reaching over to give each one a kiss good night. She hoped Jaiden was still willing to call her, mom after the setback they ended up having. Because it really did seem like Jaiden was her own kid.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I wasn't trying to make Sookie sound pushy last chapter, but after it was pointed out to me, it did make me rethink things. So that's why I had Luke suggest pushing the party further down the road and focus on getting things with the grandfather taken care of first. A big thanks to "Chloe2007" for pointing that out! Also, I never meant the whole town would be invited, lol.**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Luke was awakened later that night by some whimpers. Still half asleep, he brushed a gentle hand along the back of her head, softly singing to her. The gesture was enough to calm the little girl down before her whimpers became wails, and eventually, Jaiden was able to settle down and continue sleeping.

"Dad...dy…" he heard her whimper in her sleep.

"Shh, shh," he gently shushed her, continuing to brush a hand along her head. "It's okay, Tiger. Daddy's here. I got ya. You're safe." Her small hand held onto his shirt as she slept. Luke reached over and kissed her head.

"Papa…"

Luke continued to shush her. "I know. Go back to sleep."

Jaiden still continued to murmur in her sleep. "Papa...hurt…" It then occurred to him that there was a possibility the little girl was finally confessing what she's been holding back. What they hoped. Sleep was overcoming Luke once again. He tried to fight it, to see if Jaiden would say anything else. In the end, sleep won and the next thing Luke knew, someone was repeatedly licking him in the face.

"Lorelai, stop," he complained in an annoyed tone. "Stop." Over and over, he insisted she stop. Finally, Luke opened his eyes to see not Lorelai, but Paul Anka there sitting beside his head, hovering over him. Surprised, he flinched backwards causing himself to slide off the bed and onto the floor.

"Dammit," Luke cursed under his breath, squeezing his eyes tight.

The commotion woke both girls who lifted their heads to look over to see what had happened.

April was the one to ask. "You alright there, Dad?"

Pushing himself up, Luke slowly rose into a sitting position, reaching a hand back against his lower back. "Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, painfully. The early morning sun was peeking in through the windows. "Just got a rude awakening by a dog, that's all."

Paul Anka was now standing at the edge of the bed, looking down at him while wagging his tail as Jaiden rubbed his back. Luke placed an arm on the edge of the bed, to push himself up the rest of the way. He happened to catch a glimpse of Jaiden looking at him with a concerned look on her face.

He gave her a gentle smile. "Don't worry, Tiger. I'm tough," Luke assured her.

At that, Jaiden reached down and wrapped her arms around his neck as if to comfort him. Luke held an arm around the kid. It warmed his heart to know how Jaiden cared about making sure he was alright.

With all three now awake, Luke and the girls got up to get dressed for the day, letting Lorelai sleep a little longer. In fact, this time, both girls helped pitch in for breakfast. They took a break on pancakes and swapped them for potatoes. April re-showed Jaiden how to peel them while Luke cooked the bacon on the stove.

"Make sure your fingers are tucked in like this," she reminded the younger girl, "and always peel away from you. Yeah, like that." Jaiden tried her best to copy the older girl. Luke watched the scene in front of him, happily, glad things were still good between the girls after what happened to them yesterday. April made sure to supervise the whole peeling process but even keeping an eye on things could not avoid an accident from happening when Jaiden managed to accidentally nick her own finger.

"Uh, Dad," April got his attention.

The moment Luke saw the blood oozing from her finger, Luke reacted quickly, having April keep an eye on the bacon as he grabbed a dish towel from the sink, bringing it over where he dropped on one knee in front of where Jaiden was sitting. He asked for her hand, wrapping the towel around it, and applied pressure to the cut.

Tears were pouring down both sides of her face as she stared at it. Luke tried to calm her down while gently rubbing his thumb along her hand. Even though he wasn't squeezing that much, just enough to stop the bleeding, Jaiden tried to pull her hand away. She shook her head not liking the firm pressure he was putting on her finger.

"I have to, Tiger," he told her, gently. "You have to put pressure on a cut to stop the bleeding." It took a moment to persuade her to let him before she gave him back her hand. When it finally did stop bleeding, Luke stood to his feet. He then led her over to the sink to wash her hands, squirting the soap into her palm for her. While Jaiden washed her hands, he went to fetch the first-aid kit, bringing it back.

Setting the small, white box on the counter next to the sink, Luke asked which kind of band-aid she wanted. Like the first time, Jaiden still picked the plain ones. He peeled the wrapper open, once Luke made sure her hands were dry, and wrapped the band-aid around her finger, making sure it wasn't too tight or too loose.

"There. All better." Luke smiled as Jaiden looked her finger over. He gathered the wrapper, tossing it in the trash, and took the dish rag to drop in the laundry basket upstairs where a bunch of the other towels were. Since it was looking pretty full anyway, Luke decided to take it downstairs to start a load. "Tiger, would you like to learn how to do the laundry, real quick?"

Jaiden barely shrugged one shoulder.

Motioning with his head, Luke had her follow out the back door where the washer and dryer were. He had her bring her little step stool too so she could see what he was doing, having Jaiden set it next to the washer. Luke showed her the detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets, and explained what they were for before taking her through the steps. He let Jaiden scoop up some of the powdered detergent, telling her to pour it inside the washing machine with the towels, making sure to spread the stuff out in a circular motion.

"Great job," he made sure to praise. Even if it seemed insignificant, they should always remember to let Jaiden know she was doing a good job, Luke remembered that from the foster/adoption class.

Making sure her fingers didn't get smashed, he shut the lid and had her turn the dials, pointing where to stop. On the last dial, Luke told her to pull it out to start the washer.

"It'll take about half an hour for one wash cycle, then I can show ya how to use the dryer. Okay?"

Jaiden nodded up at him.

"Come on. Let's go finish breakfast." They returned inside where Luke took over the bacon again. April helped show Jaiden how to wash the potato peeler in the sink to peel a few more. It was apparent how nervous the kid was, this time. It was a surprise she still wanted to do it, though. Both Luke and April assured her accidents happen even to very skilled chefs.

"Even Lorelai's friend, Sookie, cuts herself, now and then," Luke added with a shrug.

Once all the potatoes they needed were peeled, April showed Jaiden how to cut them up but she just let her watch. When Jaiden was a little bit older, Luke would let her try but until then, he didn't think Jaiden was old enough to use a sharp knife yet.

Eventually, all three were standing at the stove. Jaiden was at least given the chance to sir the potatoes around with a wooden cooking spoon. Luke made sure she kept her distance from the stove, though, so she wouldn't get burned while standing on her step stool.

April did politely take over the stirring for a brief moment, to scoop up the pieces a little bit better so they all got cooked well on all sides before returning the spoon to Jaiden. "You can't just stir it around. You gotta make sure to mix them around like this," she explained, and quickly added, "but good job so far. You're doing awesome."

"You both are," Luke also added proudly. Now that the bacon was almost done, he had moved the skillet to the back burner and got started on the eggs.

About that time, Lorelai finally came in. "Hey, good morning, you three," she greeted them. "Mmm, smells good in here." Lorelai stopped beside where Jaiden was standing, leaning over to kiss the side of her head, causing the little girl to suddenly flinch. It made Luke's heart skip a beat when her hand barely missed the stove. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I didn't mean to scare you."

Jaiden eyed the woman, nervously.

"I wasn't trying to, honest," she assured her. "I was just trying to kiss you, good morning." Lorelai decided to change the subject when Jaiden continued to eye her, nervously. "You're helping make breakfast again, I see." Lorelai gave her a kind smile. "Can I grab a cup from behind you?" She pointed at the cupboard above Jaiden's head.

Jaiden climbed down from her chair and moved around April to grab onto Luke's leg.

Luke brushed a hand on top of her head.

After the food was done cooking, Luke made up everyone's plates, having Jaiden take them over to the table. He reminded her to go slow and to use two hands. However, when she brought Lorelai, hers, Lorelai couldn't help notice Jaiden was still being weary around her. Once Jaiden handed over the plate, she dashed back over to Luke, handing his to her.

Before they sat down to eat, Luke went to switch over the towels, reminding Jaiden he would show her the dryer. She hurried after him out the back door, taking her step stool with her. Luke opened the dryer first, making sure nothing else was in there before opening the lid on the washer.

"Can you start grabbing the towels from out of there and toss them in here?" he asked of her. Jaiden stepped onto her step stool. She reached down inside the washing machine, pushing herself onto the edge long enough to pull out a couple wet towels, stepping down to toss them inside the dryer. Luke helped Jaiden move all the towels over. He then had her toss in a couple dryer sheets and showed her the lint trap. Since it was already clean, Luke slid the lint trap back into place. Shutting the door, he had Jaiden move her stool over and did the same as he did with the washer, showing her which dials to turn.

"Great job, Tiger." Luke asked for a high five before holding up his hand to her so he wouldn't scare the kid.

They returned inside the kitchen, sitting down with Lorelai and April, to eat. Jaiden made sure to sit beside Luke, sitting between him and April. While they ate, Luke said he was going to stay home that morning, asking if Jaiden thought about if she wanted to learn to fish yet. To his delight, she said yes to trying it.

"I'm gonna be home early today. Rory says she's getting here around three and I want to be here long before she gets here," Lorelai explained.

"I'll probably check in at the diner on the way to pick up the trout, for about an hour or two," Luke explained. "You know, so I can be here when she does, too."

"You're gonna leave the corks on the hooks, right?"

He rolled his eyes. "That's up to Jaiden to decide."

Lorelai looked across the table where Jaiden was nibbling on a piece of bacon. "You love animals, right, sweetheart? You wouldn't want the fish to grab onto a sharp, pointy hook thing? Right?"

Luke let out a sigh. "Lorelai."

"What? I'm just asking," she shrugged. "Jaiden'll will see how cute they are and will agree to leave the cork on. Won't you, sweetheart?" Lorelai gave the kid a friendly wink. She couldn't help notice Jaiden looked tensed, barely making any eye contact and wondered if things had actually indeed taken a step backwards after all with their relationship.

"When Jaiden feels ready, it'll be up to her whether or not we take the cork off," Luke spoke up for her.

Lorelai let out a fake sigh. "Fine, I guess." She smiled at Jaiden to show she was playing around. Jaiden didn't even look up.

After breakfast, Jaiden helped Luke with the dishes. He scrubbed off each dish and passed them to her to set inside the dishwasher. Beforehand, he explained what each rack was for. As Luke did with the washer and dryer, he also taught Jaiden how to run the dishwasher, including adding the dish detergent.

While Luke wiped off the stove and counters, Lorelai returned to the kitchen just before leaving for the inn, kneeling to Jaiden's level. "I just wanted to make sure if everything was alright between us," she said, gently. "I know I crossed a line last night when I tickled you. I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories for ya. I wasn't thinking, and I really am sorry. Okay, sweetheart?"

Jaiden still did not seem to relax even after the apology.

"I promise to never do that again," Lorelai assured her and held up her pinky finger. "I pinky swear."

She stared at it. After a moment, Jaiden timidly lifted her own pinky finger and let Lorelai wrap hers around it. The kid still didn't seem one hundred percent convinced, though.

"How about tomorrow, us girls head to the mall to do some shopping? How's that sound? You can pick out an outfit for dinner, tomorrow night."

Jaiden chewed on her lips until she was finally able to ask, "Luke come too?"

"Well, Luke doesn't really care for malls," she glanced over at him, who had looked up about that point from scrubbing off a part of the stove. "And besides, I was thinking of a girls' day out. You, me, Rory, and April. What do you think?"

"Shopping is boring," she softly replied.

"Not when we go. Us girls have a great time, shopping."

Jaiden gave Lorelai an uncomfortable look.

"Just think about it, okay," Lorelai told her. "But we have to get ya something to wear for dinner, otherwise you'll have to wear another one of Rory's old outfits, and I'm sure you're probably tired of the hand-me-downs." She reached out to touch the little girl's upper arm, gently. Jaiden just stared at the floor as she held onto her oversized t-shirt. Jaiden tensed up at the touch so Lorelai had no choice but to pull her hand back and eventually stood to her feet to let the kid be for now.

Having to leave for the inn, Lorelai kissed Luke and Jaiden, good-bye. Jaiden tensed up again when she kissed her, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I still love you, sweetheart," Lorelai assured her before leaving, calling bye to everyone.

April took her bike to go hang out with her friends for the day, leaving Luke and Jaiden alone. Grabbing the towels out of the dryer back into the laundry basket, Luke took them into the living room to show her how to fold them. He let Jaiden watch cartoons while they folded. Diego happened to come on while they were sitting there which Luke questioned why a kid and his cousin were interacting with a wild maned wolf alone without any adult supervision, requesting Jaiden never approaches a wild animal like that.

Together, they finished folding by the time the cartoon ended and took the towels upstairs to the linen closet to put away. The dishwasher had finished, so they unloaded and put away the dishes. Luke even lifted Jaiden up so she could place them in the cupboard where they belonged. Once all that was taken care of, he had told her to go put her shoes on.

Before they left for the diner, Luke and Jaiden took Paul Anka out on his morning walk so he could do his business, making sure to bring gloves and baggies to pick up after him. Thankfully, Jaiden was okay with doing it which Luke was glad of, not too keen on handing others' bodily functions.

When they returned home, Babette was outside, tending to her garden. "Hey, you two," she waved towards them.

Luke waved back. "Hey, Babette."

"Walking Paul Anka, I see."

"Yep. Lorelai asked us to."

The older woman came over. "Hey, sweetie," she greeted Jaiden. "How are ya?"

Jaiden shyly waved up at Babette.

"Still not talking, huh? That's okay, sugar. Take all the time you need," Babette assured. "Well, I'll see you two, later." With that, she turned to head back to her house.

"See ya," Luke replied.

Making sure Paul Anka was taken care of, Luke locked up before heading for the diner. While he worked, Luke set Jaiden up with cartoons upstairs in his apartment, letting her know he'll be downstairs if she needed anything. Luke worked through the lunch hour, bringing Jaiden up a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and glass of milk for lunch, as well. Once the lunch rush passed and things died down, they left for the bait and tackle shop where Luke picked up some trout, also grabbing a smaller fishing pole that'll be easier for Jaiden to use.

Back at home, they saw Rory had gotten there already, seeing her car in the driveway. Luke parked behind hers, letting Jaiden out on his side.

"Looks like Rory's here," he told Jaiden.

Jaiden seemed to perk up at that. They headed inside where Luke announced who they were.

"We're in the kitchen," Lorelai called in return.

Luke and Jaiden headed into the kitchen where the girls were sitting at the table.

Rory stood up to hug him. "Hey, Luke."

He returned the hug. "Hey, Rory. You look like you're doing great."

"Yep, sure do." They got the rest of the small talk out of the way before she asked, "where's Jaiden? I thought she was with you?"

"Oh, she is." Luke motioned behind him with his head.

Rory, who had sat back down while they were catching each other up, leaned to the side. "Hey, Jaiden. Don't you remember me? It's Rory."

Jaiden peeked out from around Luke's legs in a shy manner.

"I've missed you," she added. "Really. I was sad I'd never see my little sis again."

Jaiden was standing there, holding onto Luke's jeans as she stared at the floor. Her gaze constantly kept trying to lift only to drop right back down.

"It's okay, Jaiden. I'm gonna be here for at least a week." The little girl lifted her gaze once more which Rory gave her a caring smile.

Lorelai spoke up at that point."Rory and I were thinking of take-out for dinner. Will April be home tonight?"

"Yeah," Luke nodded. "April said she'll be home around four-ish. But even if she wasn't, you two would still order more than enough food."

"I was asking so in case we needed to wait for April," she corrected him as if it was obvious that was what she meant and Luke was just slow.

Luke stood there with his hands on his sides, annoyed by the response. Leaving them alone to finish catching up, he said he and Jaiden would be outside if they needed them, heading back out front. Luke grabbed the toddler-sized pool from the garage, using an air pump to blow it up, and filled the pool up with water before dumping the trout inside. While he was getting the fishing poles ready, both Lorelai and Rory had moved outside, to watch them from the porch swing.

All set, Luke called Jaiden over.

The small fishing rod and reel wasn't a toy. It was just like an adult's, just miniature in size so she would be able to handle and control it. Starting the lesson, Luke told her the anatomy of a fish rod.

"This here is your bail. It's very important. It keeps your line on the spool here," he walked her through it just as he had done with Lorelai and April, making sure to keep things more simpler for Jaiden since she was a lot younger than they were. Luke then gently nudged her towards him, having Jaiden face towards the pool to do it with her as he explained the process, step by step. "See? Just like that." Luke had her reel in the line to do it once more before having Jaiden try on her own. He still helped her out with gentle reminders. It took a few tries, and Luke had to fix the line a couple times.

"Remember, don't release your pointer finger too early." Remaining patient and calm, of course, Luke showed her as many times as she needed until Jaiden made it in the pool. "You got it, Tiger," he praised, proudly.

The kid's spirits were lifted when she finally made it.

To make sure Jaiden fully had it down, Luke had her reel in her line and cast her line a few more times before he asked, "Ready to take the cork off your hook and try for real?" To his joy, she nodded and told her to reel it in.

Grabbing the line, Luke carefully twisted the cork off the hook and showed her how to bait her hook. "Okay, one more time." Jaiden then tossed her line back into the pool, making it once again.

"Uh, excuse me," they heard Lorelai call over to them. "Did I just see a hook without a cork land in the water with those poor trout?"

Without answering her, Luke told Jaiden, "Normally I wouldn't allow ignoring your foster mother, but in this case," he shook his head, "just ignore her."

Jaiden timidly nodded .

Reaching over, Luke kissed her cheek. He then stood up to grab his rod and reel, casting his line into the pool with hers, kneeling back down to her level. Though, Luke hoped Jaiden would get the first bite so he could show her the next step, which was the reason why he didn't bait his. It actually wasn't long before there was a tug on hers.

Setting his rod on the ground beside him, Luke nudged her towards him again, moving on to reeling in the fish. Since the trout were fairly small, there wasn't much of a fight. It splashed around for sure, but Jaiden was able to reel it in, catching her first fish.

"You got it," he praised, now glowing even more with pride. It even caused Jaiden to grin from ear to ear. Just as Luke was about to unhook the fish, Lorelai hurried over, moving around to the other side of the pool while holding the camera.

"Hold up. Let me get a shot of Jaiden's first catch." She held the camera up while Luke held the fish by the line, wrapping his other arm around Jaiden. Once the picture was taken, Lorelai told them, "okay, now that you caught one, toss him back and put the cork back on."

Luke and Jaiden both exchanged looks.

"Please?"

"Do whatever you want, Tiger. The fish will be just fine without a cork," he assured her.

"I want to catch another," she admitted softly.

"Okay then. Go ahead." Luke nodded towards the pool. He also picked up his. Lorelai returned to the porch, sitting next to Rory on the swing, half sulking. "So, you like fishing, so far?"

It took Jaiden a few seconds before she turned back and nodded at him.

"Would you like to try at an actual lake?"

She thought more on it before finally nodding.

"I'll talk to April about it, and maybe the three of us can go on Sunday. How does that sound?"

Before she could respond, Jaiden got another bite. This time, Luke let her handle things on her own, but still coached her through it, cheering Jaiden on. Like the first time, there was only a tiny bit of a struggle before Jaiden was able to reel the fish in.

With each successful catch, the more happy Luke could see Jaiden become. It was rewarding for him to see the kid get excited and have her mind taken off of the nightmares she had to live with.

When beads of sweat had started appearing on her forehead and the summer sun started taking its toil, Luke asked Lorelai if she could bring them out some water. While Lorelai headed inside, in the meantime, he removed his hat and placed it over her head, forward, to block out the sun from her eyes. Of course, it dropped down over them.

Jaiden looked up at him from underneath which he smiled for her as she held the bill in her fingers.

"I don't let just anyone wear my hat, you know," he told her, playfully nudging her with his elbow.

At that, Jaiden smiled again.

At that moment, Lorelai came over with two glasses of ice water, passing them to both Luke and Jaiden.

"Wow, you must be really special, sweetheart. Luke never lets anyone wear his hat," she snickered, teasing them both, confirming what he had just said. Needing to get a picture of Jaiden wearing Luke's hat, Lorelai told Rory to bring the camera over, letting her see the scene as well.

Afterwards, Jaiden took a drink of her ice water, setting it on the ground at her feet. The rest of the fishing lesson continued for about an hour until April got back. She too was impressed when she saw Jaiden wearing her dad's hat.

For dinner, they ordered their usual take-out and rented a ton of movies, changing into pajamas a little early. Jaiden's movie pick was _Hotel for Dogs_ , since it was centered on dogs. Since it was back to a full house once again, Jaiden took to the floor during her movie. Much later, during Rory's movie choice, she moved over to climb into Luke's lap, snuggling in his arms. The whole family sat there, all five of them together, to watch the rest of the movie.

Things could not be more perfect than it felt at that moment.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

After the movie marathon, everyone went straight to bed, exhausted. In fact, Jaiden ended up falling asleep during the last movie, right there on Luke's lap so Luke had to carry her upstairs. With Jaiden sleeping alone in her own bed, though, the nightmares returned, alerting everyone in the house. But after Luke successfully calmed her down, all was good again.

This time, though, while Luke comforted the little girl, Rory came over to sit with him and Lorelai while April sat across from them on her bed. If their parents had to lose some sleep, the girls would willingly give up some sleep too, to make sure Jaiden was reassured she was safe. Her gaze constantly scanned around at them as they helped to cheer her up with as many goofy ideas they could come up with. Even Paul Anka was there to offer a doggy kiss or two. Before they knew it, Jaiden was falling back to sleep, allowing Luke and the other girls to head back to bed as well.

The next morning, Luke being the first one up fixed breakfast on his own this time. One by one, the girls also woke up just as he was finishing. Since it was a full house again, Jaiden willingly shared one side of the kitchen table with Luke.

With things quiet, Rory decided to ask, "So, Mom, are we still heading to the mall?"

Swallowing the bite she had in her mouth first, Lorelai answered, "Well, we kind of have to. Jaiden needs something for tonight. I meant to do this ages ago but then this whole mess involving her grandfather happened, it got put on hold." She looked over where Jaiden was using the side of her fork to slice off a piece of sausage. There was some struggle with the bottom part of the meat not completely cutting. Lorelai gave Luke a nudge to get his attention, nodding over in the kid's direction so he could offer to cut her sausage for her.

Even now, Jaiden was still eating the smallest portion sizes of them all. It was what she was used to eating so nobody made a fuss, of course. There was always an option for seconds if Jaiden happened to still be hungry or just wanted to have more if she really liked whatever it was they were eating. Though, Luke thought it was refreshing to know the kid liked snacking on fruit and raw vegetables like carrot and celery sticks. Lorelai had tried introducing her to pop tarts especially with the fruit filling inside, but Jaiden didn't care for them much. It was a letdown for the woman but didn't hold it against her.

Lorelai held one arm on the table while holding her fork with her other hand. "Did you have a chance to think about going to the mall with us?" She asked right as Jaiden placed one of the pieces in her mouth and apologized, letting Jaiden chew first. Though, even after she swallowed, Jaiden didn't answer. "I still need to get ya another stuffed animal like I promised. We can stop at the toy store while we're there."

Rory asked, "Are you bribing her to go shopping, Mom?"

"Um, no, I am not bribing her," she replied. "I had promised Jaiden I would replace her toy that was stolen and finally I am fulfilling that promise."

The younger woman just stared back at her, unconvinced and reminded her mother of the many times she remembered being bribed as a kid.

"Okay, yes, I did bribe you on many occasions, but really, I'm just doing what I had promised I would do." Thankfully, Luke and April spoke up and backed her up that Lorelai did promise Jaiden, she'd replace the toy for her.

"I will say though, as long as it takes you two to try on clothes, Jaiden's gonna need a reward afterwards," April did point out.

"It does not take us that long to try on clothes," Lorelai stated.

"It took the Egyptians less time to build the pyramids."

"Okay, now you're just exaggerating," she told her.

Shrugging, April said, "Not by much. I always finish way before you do."

"That's because you don't pick out as many outfits as we do. I tell you to pick out more."

April just rolled her eyes. Lorelai, alone, had more clothes than anyone else and she still continued to buy more. Her and Luke had even discussed the possibility of having an intervention for her. Even Rory thought that was a good idea, and she loved shopping too.

"Regardless," Lorelai finally said and turned back to Jaiden. "We need to go pick out something for you to wear, for tonight. Even if it's a simple, quick run in. So, what do you think, Jaiden?"

As she stared at what was left on her plate, Jaiden did slowly nod her head. The look on her face showed her heart wasn't into it, though. Lorelai at least assured they wouldn't take a whole lot of time as April mentioned and only focus on the kid this time, letting Rory and April know they'll go another day to shop for clothes for themselves. So, things were settled.

Luke was the first to leave, needing to get to the diner. However, when he tried to leave, Jaiden had a hard time letting go. Lifting her up onto his side, Luke assured her, "It'll be alright, Tiger. You'll see me later tonight, I promise. Have some fun with the girls today and this weekend, you and I will have some fun. Remember, ice skating lessons resume tomorrow, and we're going to the lake on Sunday. Maybe we can even go swimming while we're there." He still hadn't had a chance to talk about it with April, but regardless, Luke promised he and Jaiden would still go.

Jaiden was chewing on her lower lip nervously. It was then she admitted, "I don't know how to swim."

"That's okay. It's just another thing I can teach ya." He gave her an encouraging smile.

Luke kissed her cheek. "Love you, Tiger." He then set her back down on her feet. By the way she looked, one would think he was dropping her off for her first day of school or something like that. In fact, when Luke finally did leave, Lorelai saw her run to the window and watch him walk out to his truck.

Walking over, Lorelai kneeled beside the kid, keeping some space between them. "It'll be alright, sweetheart. We're gonna have lots of fun." When she looked the kid in the eye, that's when Lorelai caught a look of pure fear. Her eyes were glossing over with tears and her chest was rapidly moving. So if Lorelai had to guess, Jaiden was already starting to feel safe while Luke was around.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked Jaiden, folding her arms on her knees.

Her eyes remained glued only moving when Luke pulled out of the driveway and headed in the direction of the diner. Even then, Jaiden continued staring at nothing when he was out of sight. Standing up, Lorelai headed for upstairs to grab Diego from Jaiden's pillow, bringing him back with her.

"Here, sweetheart," she handed the toy out to her, holding it out in front of Jaiden. It took a few tries to get Jaiden's attention and when she finally got it, the kid flinched in surprise. Jaiden stared at her before noticing Lorelai was holding Diego, and timidly reached out to take the toy. She gripped it in her hand, towards her chest. "I know I'm not Luke, sweetheart," Lorelai shook her head. "I promise to protect you just as much as he would." To add some lightheartedness, she said, "Trust me. Nobody wants to get between a mother and her cubs," making sure to include a warm smile.

Pitifully, Jaiden whimpered, "Want Daddy."

Never had Lorelai known it was possible for a heart to melt and break all at the same time hearing the little girl's words. For once, she was at a loss for her own words. It took a miracle getting the kid away from the window, and an even bigger miracle to leave the house. April sat in back with Jaiden on the way to the mall, whose nose ended up being in a book while Jaiden's was in her sketchbook. Jaiden sat cross-legged in her seat with the sketchbook on her lap, still working on the Luke and Lorelai action duo scene. This time, she was working on Luke, making sure to include his baseball cap and flannel shirt but was holding onto a rifle she'd seen Schwarzenegger use while Lorelai was holding onto a handgun with both hands.

Lorelai noticed Rory was twisted a little in her seat, watching the kid draw. Thankfully, drawing took the kid's mind off of everything for the time being. Still, she kept her voice down. "That's Luke and I," Lorelai told her, proudly.

Rory turned forward, looking over at her mom. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"The characters Jaiden's drawing, that's Luke and I."

"Really," she said as if impressed.

"You bet'cha. I look good, don't I?" Lorelai nodded over at her oldest daughter with a smirk.

Rory turned back to watch Jaiden again. "Huh," she replied, still impressed and turned forward once again. "Kid's got talent."

Lorelai glanced over at Jaiden through the rearview mirror, adjusting it a little. "I know, right? It's incredible, and all natural from her grandmother."

"Her grandmother?"

"Her mother had a painting up on the wall of her room that her own mother had painted. I thought she had bought it at some art auction painted by some famous artist. I wasn't expecting it to be painted by a relative. I don't even think I would have believed it had I not have seen Jaiden's work."

"So, art runs in the family then?"

"Guess so," she shrugged. "At least on Jaiden's grandmother's side. Her mom was the math and financial genius in the family."

"You think Jaiden can paint, too?" Rory asked, curious, glancing back at Jaiden, who was still drawing.

"Maybe. You gotta start somewhere, right?"

"Has she gotten to watch any more videos?"

Lorelai shrugged. "We just got her back a few days ago, and kept to her room at the other places. And here, she sticks to Luke's side like glue."

"I still don't believe you about that guy being taller than Dean," Rory said, shaking her head.

"Oh, trust me. That Stephen guy was a giant." she insisted.

"But Dean was really tall. How can somebody be taller than him?"

"It's possible, believe me."

There was a short pause before Rory asked, "Do you think Jaiden misses her mom?" lowering her voice even more.

Lorelai glanced over at Rory, switching quickly over to Jaiden. "I don't know," she replied, looking ahead at the road. "Jaiden doesn't talk about her much. I'm sure in time, when she's ready, she might. Celia says her father is handling the funeral arrangements, and will keep us posted. Not that Jaiden has to go to the funeral. But if she wanted to visit her grave in the future for closure, she could."

"What if the grandfather goes to jail before the funeral," Rory pointed out, "maybe Jaiden would want to go then?"

"I don't know. That would have to be up to her." Lorelai glanced up into the rearview mirror once more at Jaiden, who was still focused on her drawing. She wasn't sure if the kid was paying them any attention or not. Or was really tuning them out. Though, now that Rory had brought it up, Lorelai couldn't help be curious if that was something Jaiden would want to do or thought of.

Eventually, Lorelai pulled into the large parking lot of the mall, parking as close as she could. Rory let Jaiden out on their side, clinging close to the young woman afterwards. Jaiden was scanning her surroundings when Lorelai and April joined them which Lorelai requested the kid held somebody's hand while they crossed the parking lot. She chose Rory's hand while gripping Diego in the other which Lorelai also suggested keeping him in her pocket so she wouldn't lose another toy.

The girls spent the next few hours searching for an outfit Jaiden could wear, looking through dozens of racks of little girls' clothes. They at least searched clothes that wasn't too frilly, or wasn't a dress or skirt. It wasn't until they passed the boys' section, in one of the stores they checked out, did April suggest looking there instead, pointing out she had noticed a lot of Jaiden's clothes did look boyish.

"Dad did mention once it seems Jaiden's going through a tomboy phase." The teen looked down at the little girl standing between her and Rory. "Would that work, Jaiden? If we checked out the boys' section?" It still only produced a shrug but was worth a shot.

So, the girls looked around at the boys' clothes. Progress was finally made, finding a few pairs of black dress pants and Jaiden even picked out some dress shirts of different colors. After a quick search of the dressing rooms, Lorelai had her try them on to make sure to get the right size. It was still a surprise at the reminder the kid still fitted into sizes meant for a six-year-old at the age of eight.

Not used to formal wear, Rory offered to go in with her to help button the shirts. Lorelai still wanted to see them on, though.

"Do you like it?" Lorelai asked once Jaiden tried on the right size and came out for the mini fashion show. "Are they comfortable for you?"

With relief, the kid nodded up at her.

"So, you'll be willing to wear them to dinner?"

Again, Jaiden nodded.

So, they finally had a winner. Rory went back in with her to help unbutton the shirt and while Jaiden was putting her t-shirt and shorts back on, she made sure to divide up the clothes they were buying and the ones that were to be given to the dressing room attendant.

"What about shoes?" Rory pointed out as they were walking towards check-out.

"We can head to the shoe store next and look among the boys' too," April suggested, and turned to Jaiden, who was still walking in between her and Rory. "Sound good, Jaiden?" She got another shrug. So, after paying for the clothes, they headed for the closest shoe store. The women's shoes had to be right in front so it got postponed when Lorelai spotted a pair she liked.

While they waited, April taught Jaiden a hand game she used to play back in elementary school with other games while they sat together on a nearby shoe store bench, along with the rhyme that went along with it. Eventually, Lorelai was able to pull herself away to go look for a pair for Jaiden. Unfortunately, it did not help at all that the store had a sale on several cute little girl shoes. Guilt filled her up inside at the thought of wishing Jaiden wasn't a tomboy and was a little more girly. She reminded herself, this was who Jaiden was and had to accept that. And besides, there was a chance of the kid outgrowing the phase as she got older.

Once Jaiden picked out a pair of nice, simple black dress shoes, the girls grabbed lunch from the food court getting their usual buffet-style lunch. Lorelai listed everything off for Jaiden, including the drinks. Jaiden went with the lemonade.

"Not trying to discourage you away from your choice. Trust me, lemonade is great. I'm just curious. Have you ever got to try a soda?" she asked, curious.

Jaiden was taking a drink while holding the paper cup in both hands. Afterwards, she shook her head. "My other mommy never let me. Soda is very bad for you, she says," she admitted.

"That can be true if you have a lot of it," April was the one to point out. "But it can't hurt as a treat every once in a while."

Rory tore off a wrapper from a straw to stick in the root beer before passing it to Jaiden. "Here, why don't you try the root beer?"

Jaiden took it with both hands as she done with the lemonade and took a sip of it. Her eyes enlarged as her head flinched backwards. "That's too sweet," she blurted out.

"It's probably about as sweet as that lemonade you got there, sweetheart," Lorelai told her with a nod towards the lemonade Jaiden had sitting on the table. "You're just not used to the taste of soda."

Jaiden still set the root beer on the table, nudging it towards Rory and took another drink of her lemonade, wanting to stick to that drink. She did try the corndog they got, another food she wasn't allowed to have, and liked it. The girls had her try some of everything, though. However, she ended up trying a little too much and ended up holding her stomach.

Rory was the one to notice, asking if her tummy hurt which Jaiden gave a pitiful nod. Since they still had to stop by the toy store, she offered to carry the little girl. Rory was surprised by how light she was. When they passed the _Build-A-Bear Workshop_ , Rory instantly got an idea, suggesting they let Jaiden make her own instead of buying one already made.

"How about it?" she asked Jaiden, who somehow hadn't even heard of the whole build your own teddy bear concept and just gave Rory a puzzled look. Once the concept was explained, Jaiden agreed.

Inside, one of the workers fully walked them through the process. It was hard for Lorelai not to get one for herself, falling in love with the idea.

There were a few dogs that interested Jaiden, picking out one that was brown and white, and looked like a bulldog. The picking out clothes part didn't interest the kid at all, though, pointing out that dogs weren't supposed to wear clothes.

"Tell that to some of the rich, blond girls in Hollywood," said Lorelai, referring to those who owned small dogs that were carried in purses.

Jaiden did pick out a red bandana to tie around the dog's neck. That was at least okay for a dog, to her. That was it, though. Rory gave her some encouragement at the heart part when Jaiden wasn't sure about it. She did but in a more timid manner, of course.

At the section where the birth certificate was made, Jaiden wanted to name her dog, Diego after her favorite cartoon character until Rory made a valid point since she had another toy with the same name it would get confusing having two toys both named Diego.

"What was your other dog's name?" April asked when the kid was having trouble coming up with another one.

"Puck," she replied. Jaiden spoke so soft though, it sounded like something else entirely, throwing them off.

"What?" Rory was the one who was able to ask.

"Puck," Jaiden repeated a little more louder that time, making all three blow a sigh of relief.

"Oh, Puck," said April. "You mean, like the round thing they use in hockey?"

She nodded that time.

"What about calling this one, Puck the second or Junior?"

"No, you don't want to name him Junior," Lorelai told them.

"Why not?"

"Because I dated a guy in high school who went by Junior, and he was a jerk. I also knew A Junior in the third grade, and he too was a jerk. Juniors always grow up to be jerks," she explained.

"Okay, A) not all Juniors grow up to be jerks," Rory argued that point, leaning back on her arm while twisted around to them, "and B) I really don't think we have to worry about this dog doing any growing or be a jerk, for that matter, since he is a stuffed animal made in a store at the mall."

"Um, have you ever met a Junior?" Lorelai questioned, completely ignoring B.

"Yes, in the fifth grade, and he was a nice boy. He shared his lunch with me once."

"Did you ever hear from him again after the fifth grade?"

"Yes, up until I left Stars Hollow high, and Lane still seen him around. He still remained a nice boy, she told me."

As the discussion continued, Jaiden suddenly got an idea and patted Rory's arm in a timid manner to get her attention.

"You got something, Jaiden?"

She nodded. "Stanley, like the Stanley Cup."

Rory nodded. "That sounds like a good name for a dog," making a smile escape on the kid's face. Making sure that was the name she wanted, Rory typed the name into the computer. Once that was finally done, they picked up the printed birth certificate when Lorelai paid for Stanley, who had to go into a cardboard house, folded closed. Jaiden volunteered to carry it out of the store, repeatedly checking on Stanley through the window opening on the side.

Now that there had been time for their lunch to settle in their stomachs, Lorelai asked how Jaiden's tummy was feeling before suggesting they get ice cream. Even though her stomach was feeling a little better, Jaiden still did not want any ice cream. Neither Lorelai, Rory, or April wanted to eat in front of the kid even if Jaiden was okay with it. So, Rory suggested getting some on the way home from dinner.

Outside, on the walk to the jeep, Jaiden immediately clung to Rory, hooking her hand into hers as she continued looking around. Once Jaiden climbed into the backseat, she opened the box to pull Stanley out, and hugged her new little friend to her chest.

When Lorelai had started the jeep, she heard Jaiden thank her. "You're welcome, sweetheart. Sorry it's not Puck, or the one before him, even." A half a smile appeared when a corner of Jaiden's mouth lifted.

During the car ride home, the kid fell asleep holding Stanley in her arms. This time, Lorelai was the one to carry the little girl inside and up to her room to let her sleep for a bit until they had to get ready, being careful not to wake her.

She removed the kid's tennis shoes, dropping them on the floor beside her before covering Jaiden with her comforter, making sure she had Stanley. Finally, Lorelai leaned over to kiss Jaiden on the forehead.

"I love you, kiddo," Lorelai whispered softly. "Sweet dreams, okay?" Gently touching Jaiden's upper arm, she then left the room to let the kid sleep. Stopping in the doorway, Lorelai watched her sleep for a moment, glad they were successful with the shopping trip. Though, most of the credit went to Rory and April, glad both were here. Had it just been Lorelai and Jaiden, they'd probably still be shopping for clothes right now.

Leaving her to sleep, Lorelai headed downstairs to fold Jaiden's new clothes and make sure the tags were removed so they would be ready for Jaiden to change into when she woke up.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Luke left the diner around four that afternoon, leaving Caesar in charge to make sure the place gets locked up at the end of the night. "I'm home," he announced as he stepped inside the front door, closing it behind him.

Jaiden had been slowly making her way down the stairs just up from her nap and hurried the rest of the way, dashing over to her foster dad. Luke scooped the little girl up onto his side letting her hug him. He held an arm around her.

"Hey, Tiger. Missed ya too," he chuckled at the greeting.

Lorelai had wandered over, reaching up to give him a kiss.

"I figured you would drop by the diner after your shopping," he said.

"We would have," she shrugged, "but Jaiden fell asleep on the way home, so we just came home instead." Lorelai gently rubbed Jaiden's back, feeling her body tense up at the touch. Luke felt it as well and kissed the side of Jaiden's head.

"How'd it go?"

"Great. Jaiden picked out some nice outfits she can wear to dinner, or wherever needed." She took her hand away, folding it into her other arm. "Show Luke what else you got today, sweetheart."

Luke had noticed there was a new dog wrapped in her left arm. "That your new dog, Tiger?" He felt her head nod against him.

Jaiden lifted her head. "His name is Stanley, like the Stanley Cup."

His eyebrows rose at the name. "It is, huh?" Luke smiled for her. "That's a cool name." Really, it sounded like a strange name for a dog, but if Jaiden thought so, then so be it. "Hey, what if we squeeze in some hockey before we have to get ready for dinner?"

She perked up at that idea and nodded her head. Placing Jaiden on her feet, he told her to go put some shoes on while he got the goals out of the garage and set up. While she dashed back upstairs, Luke headed out to the garage.

Jaiden came outside while Luke was carrying them over to their original spots, hurrying straight for him. The two played for about an hour since they took the least amount of time getting ready. Afterwards, Luke suggested grabbing some water from inside before going to shower off.

Jaiden was the first one to emerge from upstairs when she was almost finished getting ready. Slowly she made her way down the stairs while holding the front of her unbuttoned shirt closed. "Um… Where's Rory?" she asked Lorelai timidly.

Lorelai was holding one of the couch pillows on her lap with the TV remote in the other, already ready. "I think Rory's in her room. Do you need help with your shirt, sweetheart?"

At that, Jaiden suddenly flinched backwards.

At that point, Luke came downstairs "What's going on?" he asked, looking between the girls, catching the tail end.

"Jaiden's needing help with her shirt," Lorelai told him, knowing he'll probably have more luck.

"Here," Luke went to kneel to the kid's level. But just as she done with Lorelai, Jaiden flinched even further back.

"Want Rory," she whimpered softly but enough both of them could hear. So Jaiden wasn't completely trusting of Luke, after all.

"Rory's in her room, sweetheart," Lorelai motioned down the short hallway that led to the kitchen with the remote. At that, Jaiden thanked her before hurrying towards Rory's room where she gave a timid knock. After a quick moment, she opened the door, sticking her head in first.

"So, that's what she picked out?" Luke asked once Jaiden was inside, pointing down the hall with his thumb.

Lorelai was leaning forward on her elbows. She was still looking in the direction Jaiden had gone, dropping her gaze towards the floor. "Yeah. That's what she wanted to wear." Her tone dropped.

Luke must have caught something was wrong because he assured her, "She'll come around."

Lorelai breathed out a sigh. "I know."

"At least she feels comfortable with Rory helping her." He gave a quick shrug. "Otherwise, we'd be out of luck."

"True. Thank God Rory's here." She looked down the hall again.

"So, how do you think Emily Gilmore will take it when she sees what Jaiden is wearing?" Luke couldn't help ask, knowing his mother-in-law might not approve of the tomboy phase.

Standing up, Lorelai just shrugged it off, turning the TV off in the process. "Well, she'll have to get used to it because that's Jaiden's choice, not hers."

Luke nodded in agreement. Inside, Luke was very excited to have a daughter who enjoyed some of the activities he did, and could care less what she liked to wear. If that's what Jaiden was comfortable in, Luke was cool with it. During a phone call with his nephew, Jess had even offered to teach the kid how to hold her own against boys, especially if she was going to eventually play on a hockey team that would no doubt have mostly boys. It took a minute or two, but Jess managed to win the argument, promising the next time he stopped by, he was bringing a punching bag for the porch and some boxing gloves.

Around six, the family of five piled into Lorelai's jeep and headed for Hartford. Jaiden brought along Stanley, holding the toy in her arms. While April continued to hold her nose in a book, Rory tried to find ways to keep Jaiden entertained like pretending she was going to take Stanley. She had to stop though once the tears appeared and they realized Jaiden may have been taking it seriously. Rory apologized, of course.

It took a little more than thirty minutes before Lorelai pulled into her parents' driveway and parked. Jaiden climbed out when Luke folded the seat down which he also held the seat belt out of the way so her foot wouldn't get caught. Making sure she was out of the way, Luke shut the door before following the rest of the family up to the large front doors. On the way, Jaiden slipped her hand into his, staying close to him. Luke gently massaged her hand with his thumb when he saw her look back over her shoulder towards the gate.

Rory rang the doorbell which was shortly answered by a maid different than the one from the last time they came for dinner. They stepped into the foyer just as Emily was coming to greet them. They exchanged greetings among each other until her gaze stopped on the youngest member of the family. Just as Luke had assumed, Emily took notice of Jaiden's new outfit.

"Why is she wearing that? What happened to the dress from before?"

"That was one of Rory's old dresses, Mom. I figured Jaiden was tired of the hand-me-downs and took her shopping for clothes of her own," Lorelai explained in a calm manner, hoping her mother would accept that explanation and move on. Of course she wouldn't.

"But why that outfit? Jaiden is a young lady, she should be wearing what a proper young lady wears."

Lorelai held a hand up, trying to remain calm. "Mom, Jaiden and I made a compromise, and that's what she picked out to be comfortable in. She doesn't like anything girly or frilly. She likes simple. Can you please just accept her decision?"

Even though, she seemed reluctant and annoyed, Emily surprisingly dropped the matter, and even told Jaiden, she looked very nice. As she led them to the living room, Lorelai exchanged a surprised but impressed look with Luke before following the rest.

Richard was there with a man around the same age, talking. Both men stood to their feet when they came in. Richard greeted each of them, introducing the other man as Norman Greensfield.

"He is an excellent lawyer. Hardly has lost a case," Richard praised the man as they all took their seats.

This time, instead of sitting by herself, Jaiden squeezed in between Luke and the arm of the couch, holding Stanley on her lap. Luke held a comforting arm around the little girl, rubbing her upper arm in a gentle motion. She still sat up straight, though, out of habit.

"Stop it, Richard. You're too kind," Noman said modestly.

"Really. Don't be so modest," he insisted. Richard turned to Luke and Lorelai. "You are in very capable hands, I can assure you."

"That's great to hear, Dad. Thanks again for helping us out." Lorelai looked at Luke as she said, "We could really use whatever it takes to end all of this once and for all," she looked back at the men.

"What can you tell me about this man who is suing you and Child Services?" Norman got right to business.

"The man's a real jerk. Plain and simple," Luke said first, unable to control his bitterness. Not towards Norman but with Jaiden's grandfather.

"Well, Luke, as true as that may be, Norman can't win you the case on that alone. You're gonna have to prove whatever he brings to court is a lie," Richard replied.

"Yes," Norman agreed. "I'm going to need more than that to help you win this."

Lorelai stepped in. "What Luke is trying to say is that Jaiden's grandfather wants us to believe he is innocent and is grandfather of the year, basically."

The man nodded.

"However, there are actually parts we can not share right now because of confidentiality of Jaiden's case since she is still a ward of the state, technically," she added before things could continue further.

"Well then, I guess we should move this to somewhere more private. It won't be long," he assured Richard, who offered them his study.

"Wait, hold on there," Emily spoke up again while Norman, Lorelai, and Luke were rising to their feet. She didn't sound one bit, happy. "You're telling me, after all this, we still can't be involved in knowing what's going on with our future grandchild?"

"Mom, I told you, it's just a formality of CPS," Lorelai tried once more to keep things calm for Jaiden's sake. "You and Dad are welcome to come, next week. Rory and April are coming for moral support, too. You'll just have to wait outside the courtroom during the trial." Knowing her mother hated being left out of anything, Lorelai hoped she'd at least accept this, considering the circumstance. It really was out of their control, after all.

Emily did try to continue to argue her concerns but thankfully did eventually let things slide for now when Norman stepped in for Lorelai. Besides, them having to move to Richard's study was a perfect opportunity for the Gilmores to catch up with Rory and April. Since Jaiden would be a part of the trial, she had to go with her foster parents and their lawyer. It was easier since she wanted to stick with Luke anyway, who lifted her onto his side as they made their way down a hallway to Richard's study.

Norman closed the door behind them while Luke and Lorelai each took a seat in the armchairs. He then went over to lean against the front of Richard's desk, letting Lorelai finish. She brought him up to speed on everything that had been going on, summarizing most parts so they wouldn't be long. She also included what Katherine had all confessed. Since there was a shortage of chairs, Luke held Jaiden on his leg, inputting whenever he could, what he had come to find out just from interacting with the kid.

Norman listened carefully to what the couple were saying. After they were done, he said, "Well, first of all, if the man feels the results were rigged, he would have to submit to and provide DNA results from another source, and I am sure the judge will request one to be sure his are accurate. In all due respect, however, I really don't feel there's nothing to really worry about there. You have that part, as they say, in the bag."

Luke shrugged. "That's what we figured, too."

"It'll be really great if we can corner the guy and dish out some justice for what he put Jaiden and her biological mom through," said Lorelai.

"Yes, the DNA results would bring to light he...did some inappropriate things with her mother," Norman watched his words carefully since there was a child present. "As for getting him convicted and prove he also done the same with Jaiden there," he nodded over at her, "we either need proof like a medical examination from a doctor, or for her to testify he did. Since you said it happened when she was younger, it will have to be the latter."

Lorelai gave Jaiden a sympathetic look while Luke rubbed a comforting hand along her arm.

"A written statement from her can be used, but the judge will want it confirmed in court by Jaiden while under oath."

"But with her grandfather there, Jaiden's not going to be able to tell the truth," she pointed out. "The guy's got too much of a hold on her that makes Jaiden side with him."

Norman ran a hand over his white-haired beard. He scratched at it as if in thought. Letting out a sigh, he said, "This is why I don't like having children involved. They're too easily manipulated. Don't get me wrong, I love'em. Got two grandchildren of my own. But having to work with them in a situation like this, that's too much stress for them."

"Believe me, if it was possible, we wouldn't even think to put Jaiden through this," said Luke. "The kid has been through enough as it is."

Norman folded his arms across his chest. "All I can really think of to do is to spend the next five days getting her prepared and ready to go to trial. We have enough to convict him on everything else, but in order for him to serve the whole sentence he deserves, Jaiden will have to speak up. Overcome her fears and tell the truth about what he did. It might even be beneficial to her in the long run."

Luke watched her as Jaiden was hugging her dog. "We're working on it," he assured, briefly glancing up towards the older man.

They finished discussing the trial, with Norman walking them through the whole process of what to expect next week. Once he did that, they stood up to rejoin the others for dinner. Luke set Jaiden down on her feet so she could take a seat next to him. She was still holding onto Stanley in one arm.

"Jaiden, why don't I have the maid take your toy for you until after we're done eating," Emily suggested. The grip on the stuffed dog increased as the woman called for the maid.

"Mom, it's okay," Lorelai said. "Jaiden's not going to play with it, she's just gonna hold it while she eats. She's even careful about not spilling food even with one hand."

"It's not good manners to have a toy at the dinner table, Lorelai. We have rules for a reason and I expect them to be followed." When the maid tried to extend a hand out to take Stanley, Jaiden clutched her dog to her chest, staring at the table. "There are no toys allowed at the dinner table, young lady. You need to give the toy to her now, please." Emily's tone was firmer than Lorelai or Luke's were. The kid's form was tensing up at the idea of having her stress reliever taken away.

Luke wanted to speak up for the poor kid, but wasn't sure what to say. Thankfully, Lorelai came to the rescue.

"Jaiden having the toy isn't hurting anyone. She's in a place she's not used to yet and it helps comfort herself. Just let her have it, Mom."

Emily glared at her daughter from across the table. Finally she asked in an annoyed but calm tone, "Lorelai, may I see you in the kitchen, please?" That said, she stood up, tossing her napkin onto the table as she pushed her chair out.

Lorelai let out a deep sigh before doing the same. On the way, she reached over to assure Jaiden she could keep Stanley with her, Lorelai would make sure of it, and kissed her on the side of the head.

Lorelai reluctantly followed her mother into the kitchen where they were devoid of witnesses as Luke tended to Jaiden, making sure she could relax again. "What is it, Mom?" she asked, trying to remain civil as she leaned a hand on the counter.

Emily quickly spun on her heels to face her daughter. "I think I have been pretty lenient on a lot of things, Lorelai. But I can not hold my tongue any longer," she began.

"What are you talking about?" Lorelai was taken aback by the sudden outburst. Though, in retrospect, it really shouldn't have been a surprise.

"The fact you let that child in there do whatever she wants," Emily answered, now letting her anger be known.

Lorelai just shook her head, trying to wrap her mind around the accusation. "What?"

"First you close your father and me off with minimal visits with her."

"We're trying to gradually have Jaiden meet everyone when the timing is right, Mom. We don't want to overwhelm her. Jaiden's very skittish. We barely just started with Luke's sister and her family."

"Oh, so those airheads gets to know our granddaughter before we do, and even with all the help your father is graciously giving," Emily replied sarcastically while rolling her eyes. "Isn't that wonderful. Another grandchild being held from us."

"It isn't like that at all. Jaiden needs time to get to know our friends and family without being bombarded, and Luke's sister just happens to be the first picked," Lorelai told her. "If it makes you feel better, not even Sookie has had any time to get to know her either. Nobody has. Jaiden has lived a very tough life, Mom. A life that has traumatised her with meeting new people, and she needs time to overcome those hurts so she doesn't have to be afraid of everyone."

"So, in the meantime, you allow her to disregard the rules?" Emily spat.

"No," Lorelai shook her head. "We give her space and time to be able to feel safe with us, and if holding onto a stuffed animal helps her to cope then that's okay."

"No, it is not okay. Toys do not belong at the dinner table, Lorelai, regardless of the reason," her mother continued to argue. "It seems Jaiden knows the proper etiquette by the way she sits. She should know that this is not polite."

"What is so wrong with Jaiden holding onto a toy, Mom?" she questioned, the frustration building at this point. "Like I said, she's in a new place and doesn't know you, or Dad, or Norman, and what you might do. Jaiden's scared and being able to hug a toy helps with that, otherwise, she'll want to hold onto Luke the whole time. Would you rather have that?" Lorelai threw her hands partially up.

"That child needs structure, not a toy. Otherwise, she'll have no respect for authority."

"She will have respect for authority, Mom. Having a toy at the table will not change that."

"Yes, it will. By not having to abide by my rules, or any rules for that matter, it will teach her she doesn't have to take me or anyone else seriously. Oh, wait," Emily suddenly said. "Maybe that would tickle your fancy."

Lorelai rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling, shaking her head. "I don't understand you. Why can't you slack in your rules this one time and let Jaiden keep her toy?"

"And why can't you for once not undermine the way I run things?" There was a long pause as Emily stared at her as if waiting for an answer. Instead, Lorelai just continued shaking her head. "This is my house. I have had these rules ever since you were a child, and I have never lifted them for any reason. I understand Jaiden feels she needs a security blanket but I'm sure it won't kill her to go through an entire family dinner without it. And another thing…"

Lorelai let out annoyed sigh when she heard "And another thing…" leaning against the counter again with her other hand on her side, knowing there had to be more.

"I don't see why Jaiden can't dress as a young lady should?"

"And like I already told you, Mom, it's what she's comfortable in."

"It's not about being comfortable, Lorelai. It's about dressing properly the way one should. Jaiden is a young lady, not a young man, and as such, she does not need to wear an outfit like that. What if someone who doesn't knows her, sees her and mistakes Jaiden for a boy? Then it'll be awkward for everyone."

"Mom, some girls go through a tomboy phase growing up. They don't like having to wear a dress or anything considered girly. They'd rather wear something simple. I could have just let her wear one of her baggy shirts and a pair of basketball shorts. Would you rather I'd done that?"

"For heaven's sake, you let that child walk out of the house looking like that?" Emily looked completely appalled like Lorelai confessed Jaiden dressed like a homeless person or something.

"Yes, because I want Jaiden to know she doesn't have to please anybody else other than herself. In fact, Jaiden doesn't even like dressing up, period. She would rather wear a t-shirt and shorts, you know, play clothes. But we managed to come up with a compromise instead. Jaiden still looks nice and doesn't have to wear a dress. It's a win-win for both of us."

"So, I guess that's it then," Emily replied, surprisingly calm. "You should be proud."

"Proud of what?" Lorelai shook her head, confused.

"You have a child who despises this life as much as you do, who wants nothing to do with it, regardless of growing up in this life and would rather rebel against it. Guess we know why you chose this child above the rest. I'm sure we can also expect a great-grandchild eight years from now." With that said, Emily started to leave the kitchen.

Lorelai turned around as she watched her mother leave. "Now, hold on one minute there," she protested. "I will not stand here and let you assume that's what's going to happen just because Jaiden doesn't want to dress up or wants to hold onto a toy at the dinner table."

"She wants to do what she pleases instead of what others ask of her." Emily shrugged causally. "It's plain and simple to see where that will go."

"There you go again. I guess some things can never change, can they?"

Her mother smirked. "So you see my point."

"No, because you don't have a point, _Mother_. You know nothing about any of this. About Jaiden and what she's going through."

Emily raised her voice a little. "Only because you won't let us!"

"I told you, Child Services has strict confidentiality guidelines that Luke and I must follow, otherwise we could lose her."

"Oh, please, you're just using that just so you can continue to keep your father and I out of this," Emily insisted.

"Did I stop Dad when he took the time to read up on what Jaiden has been through in general with those books he got on the matter? If you want to insist on knowing everything, why not do the same, and actually take the time to study up on it. Maybe then, you'll realize the horrors this little girl had to face on a daily basis! That she still has to live with to this day!" Lorelai had finally reached her limit. "Because we _couldn't_ share anything, Dad took matters into his own hands and found out the bare minimum he could for now. Why can't you do the same?" She pretended to ponder before adding, "oh, that's right, because that just might cause you to have to change your rules that you clearly would rather not have to!"

Emily was quiet as she stared at her daughter.

"We all have to do things we don't want to and that includes Jaiden. There are plenty of things she has to do. But if there is a way to compromise, we make sure to discuss it with her and come to an agreement. If holding onto a toy or finding middle ground on what to wear helps her to be comfortable then so be it. And if you can't for once put aside your rules, to get know the person she is, you're gonna miss out on knowing how wonderful she really is." That time, it was Lorelai who stormed from the kitchen, returning to the dining room. It was obvious everyone was able to hear the argument, or at least the ending outburst.

Emily returned shortly after her daughter did, and the rest of dinner was mostly in silence. Lorelai barely could eat anything. Luke made sure she was alright which she assured him, she was. On the drive home, though, he insisted on driving. The drive home was in silence,, too. Not even the radio was on. However, it was Rory who noticed Jaiden looked scared.

"You okay?" she asked the little girl.

Luke glanced up at the rearview mirror while Lorelai twisted around to see behind her. She reached behind her seat to cup the kid's knee in a reassuring manner.

"None of it was your fault and nobody's upset with you, sweetheart. My mother and I have fought ever since I was a kid, myself. We just can't seem to see eye to eye on things, that's all," she explained.

Jaiden's chin was pinned to her chest.

Lorelai took her hand back and told Rory to leave her alone for now.

On the way home, Lorelai kept her word of them getting ice cream. If there was any time as good as any to have ice cream, it was that night. Lorelai and the two older girls went in while Luke stayed in the jeep with Jaiden. He also tried to make sure Jaiden was okay. The kid just remained quiet. It wasn't until they got home and was walking up to the front door did Jaiden tap Lorelai on the arm, in a shy manner.

"What's up, sweetheart?"

Jaiden stared at the ground, repinning her chin.

Passing the ice cream off to Rory, Lorelai told them to meet her and Jaiden inside. Once Luke and the girls were gone, she kneeled to Jaiden's level.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?"

Even in the dark, Lorelai could see the kid was biting her lip.

"It's okay, sweetheart. You can tell me anything. I won't get mad or yell at you, I promise," she assured her.

Hesitantly, Jaiden finally murmured, "W-wanted to make sure you were okay."

That grabbed Lorelai's attention. "You were worried about me?"

She timidly nodded .

It made her smile that Jaiden was concerned for her. "Yeah, I'm okay. You don't have to worry about any of it. I'm sure you have your own plate full with everything that's happening next week." There was a long pause as the girls stared down at the ground. Finally, Lorelai looked up again. "I'm sorry you had to hear us fighting. Luke and I have really been trying to make sure that doesn't happen around you, but sometimes it's out of our control. We just didn't want to scare ya."

Jaiden was still holding onto Stanley in her arms, her grip tight.

"We just want to do everything we can to help you feel comfortable around us. Okay? I'm sure that's something nobody else has ever tried to do for you."

She shook her head at that. "Thank you," she replied in a soft, timid voice.

Lorelai smiled up at the kid. "You're welcome, sweetheart." Standing up, she said, "how about some ice cream?"

Jaiden shrugged one shoulder.

She made sure to add, "If you want some, that is."

"May...be a little," she replied.

"That's fine, sweetheart. Have as much as you like." With that, the girls headed inside to join the others.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Just wanted to point out, I am not a Emily hater, nor do I think she's evil in any way. She just does what she feels is best even though it's not the right solution. I'm just trying to add more drama to the story while keeping everyone in character, and I felt Emily would react in this way if something like this happened on the show.**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

For the most part, Lorelai, Rory, and April ate out of the carton while Jaiden had a small bowl. Lorelai ranted about what had happened, mostly to the older girls. Luke retreated to the living room to watch the game, leaving the girls to their own where Jaiden eventually joined him.

In all honesty, Luke agreed Jaiden should be able to have her toy to hold while getting to know her future grandparents, however, he had to admit the way Lorelai handled it probably was not the best solution.

Eventually, everyone started retreating to their rooms when it got too late. After he changed in his pajamas, Luke stopped by the girls' room while Jaiden was in the shower, even though she had already showered before they left for dinner. Now and then, there would sometimes be an extra shower. It was a perfect time for Luke to talk to April, at least, about possibly coming with them on Sunday.

"It would help make Jaiden feel more comfortable having another girl there, and it would be a perfect opportunity for the three of us to bond. What do you say? Please?" he pretty much was begging.

April was thinking on it. The fishing part wasn't really that bad. It was mainly the conversation part was what really made it lack enjoyment for the teenager. But maybe with Jaiden there, it wouldn't be so bad.

"I also told her we could swim in the lake while we're there, and promised I'd teach her since she says she doesn't know how. That might even be something you both could bond over since you're great at swimming," he pointed out.

"Yeah, I can definitely help teach Jaiden to swim," she replied, seeming more interested now. "But, uh, Dad. Did you bother to ask if she had a swimsuit or not? Because if not, we could have picked one up for her while we were at the mall today."

Luke thought back to the conversation he had with Jaiden that morning. "Uh…"

April nodded already knowing the answer. "Uh huh. Yeah, we're gonna have to make another trip then."

"We have to do the grocery shopping tomorrow anyway, maybe we can take a trip to Target, and kill two birds with one stone? And we're gonna have to get her some water wings too."

April dropped her face into her hand, facepalming at her dad's protectiveness. "Dad, you can't learn to swim while wearing water wings. Jaiden won't even be able to move her arms. Plus she's eight, not four."

"It's just an extra precaution," he shrugged.

April rolled her eyes just as Jaiden was returning. "Hey, perfect timing. Jaiden," she grabbed the kid's attention. "Do you want to wear water wings while we're swimming at the lake?"

Jaiden stared over at the older girl. After a minute, she nodded.

Throwing her dad a quick look, April told her, "But Dad and I are gonna teach you how to swim, and water wings make it harder to move your arms in the water. I promise we won't let you drown if that's what you're afraid of."

Jaiden still looked uneasy on the matter.

"Okay, how about this?" Luke spoke up at that point, looking between the girls. "How about instead of getting water wings, we get Jaiden a life vest? Will that work?"

"You mean the non-inflatable ones, 'cause yeah, I guess that could work," said April. "We can get her a kickboard, too. That helped me when I was first learning to swim. They help practice your kicking."

Luke turned back to Jaiden to get her opinion on the matter. "Does that sound good, Tiger?"

She nodded.

"Okay, then it's settled." He stood up from where Luke was sitting on Jaiden's bed, tossing the comforter back for her. April offered to blow dry her hair, seeing as it was wet and pointed out her pillow would also get wet. Plus, it wasn't good to go to bed with wet hair anyway, she explained. So, letting the girls handle that on their own, Luke kissed both of them good night before heading off to his room. That is, until Jaiden stopped him, shyly reminding him about their song. "Come get me when you're done. Okay?"

She gave him a small nod.

With that, Luke left the room, heading down the hall where Lorelai was just now heading to bed herself. He paused in the middle of the room before heading into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"Everything alright in there?" she called out to him, sensing something was on his mind.

Luke was squeezing out the paste onto the brush when Lorelai asked him. He called back, "Um, I was just thinking about what happened tonight at your parents' house." Once that was said, he stuck the toothbrush into his mouth and started brushing.

"Yeah, what about it?"

Luke finished up really quick before spitting into the sink. He turned on the water to rinse out the rest of the toothpaste and grabbed a towel that was sitting there on the counter, to dry around his mouth and hands. "I know your mother can make you crazy and all, and yeah, I wished she had eased up on the kid, but should you have really told Jaiden that she could keep her toy with her?"

Lorelai looked over at him from where she was sitting up in bed, reading through a magazine. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, don't you think by telling Jaiden she could keep her toy with her while we were having dinner after your mom said she couldn't... Well, it's basically sending a message to Jaiden that she doesn't have to listen to whatever she says, at all."

At that, she stared at him as if in shock. "Wait, are you actually siding with my mother?" Lorelai couldn't help but question. "Luke, we had an agreement that Jaiden could have Stanley with her for comfort. My mother was in no way a part of that, and cannot tell her, she can't."

"Yes, I know this, and agree your mother could have bent the rules a little. But my point is, by telling Jaiden, she could keep it regardless of what your mom says, that's gonna teach her she doesn't have to follow any rules just because she doesn't like them. I mean, what about when Jaiden goes back to school, in a class with a new set of kids? She's not gonna be able to have it then either."

"Luke, please don't let what my mother said, draw you in. She's just being manipulative. Letting Jaiden keep Stanley at dinner will not make Jaiden disregard somebody's rules."

"Yeah, it could, Lorelai. Or confuse her. Jaiden is still a kid learning about how the world works. Not to mention, didn't we agree to compromise with her when uncomfortable things come up? How is this compromising?"

Lorelai let out a sigh towards the ceiling, her head on top of her upright pillow. "My mother has no control on what we say Jaiden can have. We had an agreement, and if we had gone back on that agreement and told Jaiden she couldn't keep Stanley with her, we would break that trust that we have tried so hard to form. Do you want to break that little girl's heart?"

"It's not about going back on our word, Lorelai," he pointed out. "I'm not saying that at all."

"Then what are you saying? Because it sounds like you'd rather take her side and break a promise that _we_ told Jaiden," she argued.

Quickly thinking, Luke closed the door so the girls couldn't hear them, especially Jaiden when he heard the blow dryer turn off. "I'm not taking anyone's side, here," he argued back, "I'm just looking out for Jaiden. Like it or not, your mother's gonna be her grandmother, and yes, she has no control over how we raise her, but Jaiden still needs to show respect, and going against what your mother says without coming up with a compromise as we've been doing with Jaiden, seems… counterproductive."

Lorelai stared towards the bed, shaking her head. She couldn't believe Luke, of all people, was doing this.

"I'm not trying to make you mad here. This will be, _is_ , our kid, and I don't want history being repeated."

"What, Luke? What history will be repeated?"

"Well, you know…" he paused in his words, unsure on what to say. "I think it's great that you want Jaiden to be her own person. To be confident like how Rory and April are. She needs that confidence boost, but after all of the mistakes we've made, somebody in this dysfunctional family of ours has to learn from those mistakes. If we're gonna teach her to compromise, that has to include with your mother, as well. I mean, I'm sure we could have worked out something."

"Um, how long have you known my mother?"

He let out a breath of air towards the floor, holding his hands on his sides. "Okay, fine," he finally said. "Even if we couldn't compromise with her, we could at least compromised with Jaiden. Find a solution with her. Unexpected changes happen, I'm sure Jaiden is all too familiar with. But we can use that to work on to find a solution so she can better handle a problem than she could in the past."

"So, in other words, let my mother win. Is that what you're implying?"

"It's not about letting anyone win," he argued. "It's not about winning at all. I just want our daughter to know she can't break a rule just because she can't have what she wants. That's not how the world works, Lorelai."

She rubbed her face in her hands. "Luke," she said calmly, holding her eyes shut, "I see what you're saying, I really do. But letting Jaiden keep Stanley at dinner, something we promised she could do, will not teach Jaiden to be disrespectful."

Luke tried to speak up some more but Lorelai just remained stubborn. Finally he just had to step out of the room for a breather. Thankfully, things didn't escalate further, but had Luke stayed in the room, it might have. One of the lessons taught in the classes they had to take, mentioned when in times of frustration, to get up and leave the room so nothing that might be regrettable could happen.

April was putting the hair dryer away in the bathroom when he walked by, heading downstairs. "Hey, is everything alright? You and Lorelai seemed to be having an argument."

"Everything's fine. Don't worry about it," he assured her. "You girls finish?"

"Yeah, I told Jaiden to give you a minute or two before going to get ya," she replied.

"Thanks, April," he told her, glad for the teen's smart thinking.

"No problem." She then shrugged. "I figured it probably wasn't the best time to interrupt."

Luke wrapped an arm around her, squeezing April in a one-arm hug as he kissed her head. Heading back to their room, Luke saw Jaiden was drawing again while she waited for him.

"Hey, Tiger. Ready for bed?" He carefully sat on the edge of her bed, beside her. Putting her sketchbook aside, on the bed, Jaiden leaned against him, letting Luke wrap his arm around her. Before he started to sing, Luke wanted to clear the air. "Listen, Tiger, I wanted to talk about what happened tonight at dinner. I know we let you bring your new dog with you to dinner, but we probably should have taken into account Lorelai's mother having strict rules regarding how things are run in her house, so we kind of goofed there."

She managed to look up at him. "Goofed?" Jaiden gave Luke a puzzled look.

"Made a mistake, I mean," he explained. "You know how you and Lorelai have been compromising, like with having to dress up, for example?"

She nodded.

"Well, if Lorelai's mom was set on you not having your dog, well, maybe we could have found a solution, like you did with dressing up. Instead of having to wear something girly like a dress, you compromised by wearing a nice shirt and pants. Does that make sense?"

Jaiden continued to stare up at him. She did nod a little.

"I don't want you thinking it's okay to not follow a rule just because you don't like it or don't want to do something. Lorelai's mother is going to be your grandmother someday, and she likes things done a certain way. We may not understand why but that's how it is. Does that make sense?"

This time, she shook her head.

Luke had to pause to think of another way to explain things where Jaiden would be able to understand. "Okay, you know how Lorelai's mother asked that you not to have your toy during dinner?"

She nodded.

"And Lorelai told you could?"

Again, Jaiden nodded.

"When you go eat at somebody else's house, you are a guest there, and it's polite to follow whatever rules they may have. At Lorelai's parents' house, they have a rule, I guess, that doesn't allow toys at the table. Now Emily, Lorelai's mother, could have been nice and let you keep your dog after Lorelai explained why you had it. But Emily didn't, and that's what upset Lorelai. But instead of us coming up with a compromise, she decided to just let you keep your toy and not follow her mother's rule. That was how Emily saw it. But sweetie, we can't ignore a rule just because we don't like it. I don't like she couldn't let you keep your dog, but that's the way it is in Emily's world. It's like having to follow the law. We may not like it but we have to follow it unless we want to end up in jail. Does that make a little more sense now?"

Jaiden looked out the corner of her eye as if thinking about it.

"It's okay if it still doesn't. You can tell me whatever is still confusing for you, Tiger." Luke gave her upper arm a gentle rub.

"So I can't have Stanley there any more?" she managed to ask.

"You can, just not during dinner. If you feel scared or overwhelmed, you can always squeeze my hand if you need to. I wouldn't mind if you did. Or, can you think of any ideas that may help?" Compromising meant also letting Jaiden have a say. There was a long pause where no one said anything. Luke continued to rub her arm for encouragement, reassuring there were no wrong answers.

As Luke continued rubbing her arm, he noticed Jaiden became less tense. Jaiden must have noticed as well as she kept looking over at his moving hand. Finally, after five minutes, she looked up at him.

"What about that?"

"What?" he replied, unsure at first.

Jaiden pointed at his hand that had stopped.

"Oh, you mean when I rub your arm?" Luke rubbed her arm again as an example which she nodded. "Yeah, I can reach over and rub your arm, or your back, even. If you think that'll help you feel better without your dog. Good idea, Tiger," he praised, encouragely. The praise made the kid smile a little.

"And you know, Emily doesn't really understand what's going on because we can't share your private business with anyone outside our little family. Who knows, maybe if she did know, she would be more willing to let you keep your dog during dinner."

"She don't seem nice," Jaiden admitted, nervously.

"Like I said, Emily likes things done a certain way, but I can say, as much as she has a hard time with letting others speak, somewhere down deep, deep, deep, _deep_ …"

"Dad," April spoke up to make him get to the point as if to insist that was enough _deeps_ to get his point across.

"Deep in there," he finally finished, "she is a nice lady and will not do anything to hurt you. Except maybe your pride, or your feelings, but that's usually unintentional. She really doesn't try to go out of her way to hurt them. If you ever want a serious, no hold-back answer, Emily's the one to ask. She is very honest and won't hesitate to speak her mind, no matter if it hurts to hear or not. I mean, it's better to be honest anyway instead of lying because if you lie to someone, you break their trust between you, and that's never good, Tiger, I can most definitely promise you about that. Always remember to tell the truth because if you don't and they find out anyway, it can hurt even more than what the truth might be. That make sense?"

That time, Jaiden nodded once more but couldn't make eye contact this time.

Luke gave her gave her a kiss on the head, holding it for a brief moment. "Now that, that is taken care of, ready for the best weekend you've ever had in your entire life?"

Jaiden pretty much shot up like a rocket in excitement. Her head ended up colliding into Luke's jaw. It wasn't a pleasant experience for either one of them. While Luke groaned in pain, Jaiden grabbed onto her head in both hands, her eyes shut tight and watering. Luke shrugged the pain off to tend to the kid, making sure she was alright. He could already see a bruise appearing on her forehead from where it happened.

"April, do me a favor," he told her, looking over in April's direction.

"Yeah?" she looked up from the book April was reading, eager to help.

"Run down to the kitchen and make an ice pack for Jaiden, please?"

Sure." April set her book on the bed beside her and hurried downstairs. While she was gone, Luke tried to calm Jaiden down, singing the lullaby for her. It took April only a few minutes to return with a sandwich bag full of ice cubes wrapped in a paper towel which she passed to her dad, who set it against the bruise. Luke told Jaiden to hold it there for a while.

Once Jaiden calmed down, Luke sang one last time before finally getting up to let her lay down on her pillow. He took the ice pack with him that was now melting through the paper towel. Saying good night and love yous, Luke headed back to his room, tossing the ice pack in the trash in the bathroom.

Lorelai was already in bed but the light was still on where he could see she was still awake.

Before heading around to his side, Luke switched off the light switch by the door. He tossed the covers on his side, back, and sat down.

"I had a talk with Jaiden. We found a compromise," he tried to reassure her.

"I heard." Lorelai just continued to stare off into space without another word.

Since nothing else was said, Luke took that as Lorelai not wanting to talk anymore and laid down on his pillows, turning over onto his side. There was dead silence except for a faint sound of what sounded like April talking to Jaiden, from down the hall. It wasn't too loud or anything so neither Luke or Lorelai called for the girls to keep it down.

Finally, after twelve minutes, Lorelai turned over, onto her elbow, now facing Luke.

"Why did you do that?"

Luke laid back to look at her. "Do what?"

"Tell Jaiden she couldn't have her dog?" she questioned, sounding like a wife whose husband buys useless expensive things without consulting them.

"I didn't tell her, she couldn't have her dog," he said. "We came up with a compromise in case your mother does this again."

Lorelai rolled her eyes as she just shook her head and just rolled back over onto her side, facing away from him again.

"What is so wrong with me compromising with Jaiden. Isn't that what you were doing with her?"

She remained silent that time, stubbornly. Lorelai briefly closed her eyes in frustration. It wasn't the fact Luke wanted to find a compromise with Jaiden. In her mind, it just seemed like her mother had won and he was allowing it. Encouraging it, actually.

Luke watched her. He let out a breath of air from his nose. Reaching over, he gave Lorelai a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sure Jaiden will be fine." That said, Luke laid back down on his side and closed his eyes.

Everyone ended up sleeping through the night, including Jaiden. While having a late night, sisterly chat, the girls fell asleep together in April's bed.

Lorelai was still upset with Luke the next morning, hardly saying a word. To make things worse, once Rory found out why when April quietly told her what had happened last night, Rory took her mom's side.

"I thought you had an agreement with Jaiden?" she questioned, looking over at Luke when he came over to scoop the latest batch of bacon onto the plate in the center of the table.

"Rory, please. We have it worked out with Jaiden now. Just leave it be, please?" he asked of her, trying to keep things civil before the coffee could run its course.

Unfortunately, she did not ease off. "Grandma's the one who should be the one doing the compromising, not Jaiden," she argued.

"Or, Jaiden can be the bigger person and let the witch have her stupid rule," April shrugged, stabbing up bits of scrambled eggs.

"April," Luke scolded.

"Of course you take your dad's side," Rory told April, bitterly, not to mention, immaturely.

"Not surprised you would take your mom's side," she replied, just the same.

Both made Luke sigh under his breath. It was Lorelai who told the girls to stop which he thanked her for. She didn't respond to him, though. Just continued eating. Thankfully, Jaiden was the last to join them just then, missing most of the argument. Or so they thought anyway.

Luke made her a plate, kissing her good morning where the bruise could still be seen. It was faded, though. "Ready for another round of ice skating lessons?" he asked to psych her up.

She gave him a smile, nodding her head. Jaiden took her plate of food over to the table on the end across from Rory, setting it down before climbing onto the chair.

Lorelai, who held her head in her hand while she ate, gave a smile for the kid. "Good morning, sweetheart. Sleep okay? We never heard from you."

Jaiden gave her a nod. "A little," she admitted.

About that moment, Lorelai noticed the bruise and reached over to examine it. "What happened there, sweetheart?"

"Daddy did it," she said.

"What?" Lorelai stared at the kid in confusion. She looked over at Luke, who explained her head collided with his jaw when he got her excited for their fun-filled weekend plans last night. Lorelai did wonder what had happened and wanted to run to the girls' room to make sure everything was alright. "Well, glad you're okay, sweetie," she nodded, forcing a smile for Jaiden.

While they finished eating, Lorelai asked Luke, "Are you taking Jaiden to the ice rink right away or are you going to the diner first?"

"I'm closing the diner for the weekend to focus on the girls," he answered while scooping up some of his scrambled eggs.

Lorelai nodded. "Hm."

Not much else was said. With tension dividing the family at the moment, April went with Luke and Jaiden to the ice rink while Rory stayed with Lorelai.

Luke recapped the basics with Jaiden, letting her hold onto his hands while she got reused to being on the ice. He still had her wear a helmet, along with elbow and knee pads. April skated around the rink with the other skaters, occasionally coming over to check on the progress her little sister was making. Eventually, once Jaiden was ready, Luke let go and had her skate on her own. Both him and April cheered her on. Soon, Jaiden was circling the ice rink on her own. A less slower speed than the rest but nonetheless, she made progress.

After the ice rink, they went to Sniffy's for lunch. Maisy got on Luke for not feeding the kid, noting on how skinny Jaiden was and stated they needed to change that. It was April who pointed out that the kid got stomach aches every time she ate more than what she was used to.

"Oh, what's a little tummy ache?" Maisy waved her off with her hand.

"Maisy," Luke warned her, who was clearly acting as a grandmother should.

When Buddy came out to say hello, he ended up smacking Luke upside the head for leaving a bruise on the poor kid, even though Luke tried to explain that it was an accident, and offered a free dessert for her. There was no asking to keep it small neither, though it worked out when April offered to share. So both girls worked on the large slice of ice cream cake with extra whipped cream, together. Though Jaiden picked off the whipped cream from her side.

Once they were able to leave Sniffy's, they went to Target to let Jaiden pick out a swimsuit. Though, it was offered to look at the boys' swim trunks, Jaiden was okay with a girl's one piece suit. A two-piece was a definite no, however, when April pointed out one she thought was really cute. The one Jaiden picked out was a plain light blue suit. She also picked out a yellow and green life vest, and a kickboard that was two different shades of blue with jagged stripes going across one side.

While there, they also did the grocery shopping as Luke had planned, glad he wrote the list before Lorelai wasn't speaking to him. He still made sure to grab the requests her and Rory had made, and also asked Jaiden if she had any special requests.

"Can I get strawberry milk?" she asked shyly while holding onto the side of the cart.

"Sure," Luke assured her with a smile.

"Do you want the kind that's powder or syrup?" April asked.

"Powder," she replied.

So the three of them headed for the soft drinks aisle to grab a container of the Nestle Quik strawberry powder which Luke tossed into the cart. Later, at home, they heard Lorelai squeal with excitement at it until she realized it was strawberry and not chocolate.

"Way to play with my emotions." Luke assumed that was directed towards him. Even upset, she could make him chuckle to himself.

The rest of the afternoon was spent playing hockey in the front yard. Jaiden showed April how to play, first, who seemed to have a slightly better grasp on the concept than Lorelai and Rory did.

Dinner was split up since the other two were snacking for dinner while watching movies. So Luke made grilled cheese and tomato soup for himself, April, and Jaiden. Jaiden watched Luke carefully like a hawk to make sure he didn't add too much powder into the milk.

"You know, usually the kid is begging for more," he teased her, playfully. Jaiden just gave him a lifeless, serious stare. So Luke just stirred the mix together in the milk and brought it over to the table for her.

Since they had to be up early for the fishing trip, the three of them went to bed early before the other two did, waking up around four. They made sure to be extra quiet. April took the middle seat of their dad's truck while Jaiden still took the window. For the most part, they listened to country, but Luke suggested letting April having a chance to listen to her own music, letting her switch the radio over to a pop station for a while. At one point, while listening to the country station, April did tease Jaiden about being the baby of the family when Blake Shelton's _The Baby_ came on, playfully nudging the kid with her elbow. Luke, on the other hand, couldn't get the song out of his head.

At the lake, Luke had the girls help carry everything they brought. April carried the folding chairs while Jaiden carried one of the tackle boxes along with her kick board. They set everything up with Luke making sure both girls baited their hooks the right way without poking themselves, especially Jaiden.

Stanley sat on the chair behind where Jaiden stood as she cast her line out like Luke had showed her, getting it on the first try that time.

"Awesome, Tiger," he praised, proudly and asked for a high five. Luke then let April cast her line out before doing the same with his own. Together, he sat there with two of his girls as the early morning slowly rose into the sky. The early birds chirped as they flew overhead or sat in trees nearby. The sound of the lake steadily moving was also heard as they waited for the first bite.

Eventually, Jaiden got tired of standing and stepped back to sit on the edge of her seat. All of them already had their swimsuits on and Jaiden wore her life vest on over hers, along with a pair of her basketball shorts. Lorelai had gotten her a pair of flip flops at some point before Jaiden was moved from their care and hadn't gotten to wear them until now.

They just listened to the sounds of nature for the most part. Unexpectedly, it was Jaiden who broke the silence.

"Are you and Mommy fighting?"

Luke looked over to see a concerned look on her face. Glancing between Jaiden and the ground, he told her, "Uh, no, sweetie. We're just having a disagreement, that's all."

She continued to stare up at him. "But not fighting?" she shook her head repeatedly.

"Nope, not fighting." He reassured her with a smile.

Jaiden turned her head back towards the lake. Things were silence for another minute except for nature before out of nowhere, she admitted, "I don't like fighting. People get hurt."

Luke exchanged a sympathetic look with April. "Nobody's gonna get hurt, sweetie. I promise."

What happened next, none of them knew the reason why. Maybe the nature sounds just lulled the kid into a calm, relaxed state of mind. Maybe she just felt comfortable with her foster dad and foster sister. But whatever it was, the words just seemed to pour out after that.

"I used to make sure my other mommy was okay. I get ice from the 'fridge-a-tor in my hands and bring it for her, but she would hit it out of my hands." She stared downward at the water's edge in front of her. "Sometimes it would disappear but come back when she washed her face."

April spoke up. "She was probably covering it up with make-up," she shrugged. Both her and Luke assumed the kid was talking about a bruise Katherine had similar to the one Luke accidently gave her. Only it more than likely wasn't an accident.

Jaiden's shoulders pushed up into a shrug without looking up then dropped right back down in a slump. "My other mommy wore a lot of make-up."

The older girl forced a smile for her. "She did, huh?"

Jaiden only nodded, slowly. "You need it to look pretty, she says, but no amount could help me."

"Awww," April wrapped a sisterly arm around the little girl, "Jaiden, that's not true. You look very pretty."

Jaiden didn't respond to the compliment at all. "Papa didn't like I was bothering Mommy. He told me to go to my room and when I didn't move, he got louder and said he would be coming up there too."

Luke swallowed a huge lump that suddenly got caught in his throat, knowing where this was going.

"Papa… Papa…" She was starting to breathe harder now, like she was trying to gasp for air. April kept her arm around her little sister while Luke gently ran a hand along the back of her head, both encouraging Jaiden on. Though he hated doing it, Luke knew getting it out and admitting what happened was going to help Jaiden in the long run. He told her to take deep breaths before trying to speak again which Jaiden did, very carefully.

"Papa would… Papa was holding his belt…" She took another deep breath when Luke saw she was starting to gasp for air again, shutting her eyes tight, no doubt reliving the awful memories. "Then afterwards… Papa…" Her eyes were filling with tears by now. One even escaped down the right side of her face, drifting over her scar. "Papa…" After that, that was it. Jaiden burst into crying. The nature sounds seemed to have suddenly vanished as Jaiden was finally able to confess what had happened, her wails replacing them. Not even the lake seemed to make a sound. It was as if Mother Nature herself was mourning for the little girl.

April rested her head against the little girl. Luke could hear her sniff in, even with Jaiden crying. Though, Jaiden bolted out of her seat and threw herself against him, grabbing onto his grey t-shirt as she cried into his chest.

"I lied! I'm sorry, Daddy! I lied! Papa did hurt me! Papa did hurt me! Real bad!" A series of coughs followed that statement before sobbing some more. "I'm really sorry! I'm really sor...ry!" She had to gasp for air one more time.

"Shh, shh," Luke gently shushed her, holding his arms around her. "It's okay, Tiger. It's alright. I'm not mad, I promise. Not at you." He then sang the lullaby for her, trying to calm her down enough before she made herself sick. "We all love you, and your grandfather can never hurt you again. You're safe now, I can promise you, that." Luke ran a soothing hand along her bare upper arm as he repeated, "it'll be alright," to her, over and over."

At that moment, he caught April removing her glasses to wipe her eyes dry.

"You okay?" he asked, making sure she was alright, as well.

"Yeah," she nodded, sniffing back a few tears, and placed her glasses back on her face. "I will be, anyway."

Five minutes went by before Jaiden's wails decreased to quiet sniffles. It was enough where she was able to say, "I-I was...only...trying to help...Mom...mee…" It was to be assumed Jaiden was referring to Katherine.

"I know, sweetie, I know." He continued running a gentle hand along her arm. "It's not your fault, I promise. You did good." At that moment, her fishing rod jerked from where Jaiden had dropped it in the dirt.

April responded fast, grabbing a hold of the rod before the fish could pull it under. She had to drop hers in the process to be able to use two hands. "Jaiden, you got a bite," she told the little girl, happily. Jaiden lifted her head with curiosity. Her tiny face was covered in tears and snot from her nose which had soaked Luke's shirt.

Luke asked for the rod and passed it to Jaiden, assuring he was going to help her, but Jaiden had to do it since it was hers. She stood between his knees, facing the lake, as they tried to reel the fish in.

"Come on, Jaiden. You can do it," April cheered her little sister on.

Luke held her hand on the reel handle, directing Jaiden on what to do. This was surely a good sized one. Either that or somebody dumped a can of Popeye's spinach into the lake. After a tough fight and lots of encouragement from both her foster dad and foster sister, Jaiden was able to reel the fish in enough for Luke to tell April to grab the net and be ready. Once it was close to the water's edge, April scooped the net in and lifted the fish out of the water where Luke got up to help her.

The fish struggled inside the net, gasping for air.

"Yeah, you did it, Tiger," Luke praised Jaiden, proudly. "You caught your first real catch at the lake. And it's good sized to take home and fry up for dinner. What do you think?"

Jaiden watched it squirm, looking sad like she felt bad for it.

"I'm gonna put it out of its misery right now, but if you want to toss it back instead," he assured her. "I mean, this is where the fish you eat come from. If we don't, somebody else will."

"I do like fish," she admitted. The struggling fish was looking a little tired by this point.

"Trust me, he'll go to the big lake in the sky where he can swim to his little heart's content without having to worry about other fishermen, fisher _women_ ," he put emphasis on women aimed towards the girls,"or predators getting him." So, Jaiden gave the say to keep it with the promise Luke was teach her how to cook fish. Having April keep the little girl's attention busy, showing her breast strokes to use in the water, Luke did the deed before wrapping it up and sticking the fish inside the ice cooler to keep it fresh.

With that out of the way, they picked up their rods for now and decided to go swimming. April of course jumped in while Luke slowly eased Jaiden into it. Jaiden kept her shorts on, only removing her flip flops, sitting on the edge of the bank with her bare feet in the water. He encouraged her to jump in, reassuring that he was right there and wouldn't let anything happen. It took a while but Jaiden finally took a leap of faith out on the water and pushed herself off.

Luke made sure to pull her in just as she started to freak out. "You're okay, Tiger," he assured her.

Nature's sounds seemed to have returned while Jaiden got used to the water, with April showing her the basis on how to swim properly before having her give it try, using her kickboard first. Eventually, April and Luke put some space between them and encouraged Jaiden to swim to April without it. Like many times before, the little girl was hesitant at first but with some encouragement, she pushed away from the safety of her foster dad and did as her big sister showed her, as best she could. For the most part, Jaiden looked like a puppy swimming for the first time. She still managed to make it to April at least, who let the kid grab onto her.

"Alright, good job," April told her, happily.

Luke smiled as the two girls interacted. It was relieving to see a smile across the younger girl's face, especially after the outburst earlier. Now that Jaiden had gotten it out, hopefully they could help her overcome her fear of her grandfather enough to be able to speak up in front of him. For now, though, Luke just focused on making sure their weekend was fun and exciting.

"Let's see ya swim back over here, Tiger," he called over to the girls, who was now splashing the other.

This time, Jaiden was a little less hesitant as she pushed away from April, and swam for Luke as they continued to cheer her on until she finally made it back. Jaiden clung onto Luke who squeezed her in a tight but gentle hold.

They swam for a while before having some lunch while they dried off. Then they headed back to Stars Hollow where Jaiden couldn't wait to tell Lorelai and Rory about catching a fish for dinner. Luke gave the little girl a head's up if the two looked traumatised about catching a fish and not letting it go.

Sure enough, when the girls came out to meet them and Jaiden ran over, the kid may as well had confessed she was the hunter who had shot Bambi's mom. Lorelai and Rory at least forced themselves to be happy for Jaiden, congratulating her on the accomplishment.

While their girls headed inside, Luke stopped Lorelai to let her know, "Jaiden confessed."

"Confessed?" She shook her head, confused. It took a moment to sink in what Luke was referring to. When it did, her blue eyes enlarged. "You're kidding?"

Luke shook his head, slowly, with his eyes closed.

"How did it happen?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know. One minute we were fishing, listening to the lake sounds, next thing I knew, Jaiden was asking me if you and I were fighting, and it reminded her of a time when her biological mother was fighting with her grandfather."

Lorelai closed her eyes towards the ground.

"We can't be fighting, Lorelai," Luke told her, gently. "Not now. Not when our baby needs us."

She nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry." Lorelai looked up into his green eyes.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too." At that, they grabbed onto each other and shared a loving kiss when Lorelai suddenly pulled away.

"Did you just call Jaiden, our baby?"

"Yeah, blame Blake Shelton on that one," he admitted before resuming where they left off.

Only three more days remained…


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Luke had to leave first thing Monday morning to go open the diner before the girls woke up, despite being exhausted from the weekend. Both April and Jaiden, who were also equally exhausted, ended up sleeping in longer than Lorelai and Rory did. It didn't help that the nightmares were worse for poor Jaiden. Her cries ended up ringing out throughout the whole house, scaring the piss out of everybody and Rory had her door closed.

Luke came bursting in first as Jaiden was crying out, "No, Papa! No! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Which meant now that she told the truth, that meant Jaiden was more afraid than ever of her grandfather finding out. It took a while for Luke to wake her and get Jaiden to calm down, and once he pulled her onto his lap, that's when he realized it had scared her so much it literally did scare the piss out of her. In all honesty, he didn't even want to go to the diner that morning. However, it was very short notice by this point and Lorelai assured him, she and the girls would look out for Jaiden, and would call him if they absolutely needed to.

Lorelai and Rory were enjoying their coffee and having a bowl of cereal when Lorelai's phone rang later that morning. She had called Norman first thing, a moment ago, to inform him of Jaiden's confession. The fact still remained that Jaiden was still extremely afraid of her grandfather, and he figured they might even need more outside help so this call would end up being very much needed, and couldn't have come at a better time.

Lorelai picked the phone up from where she had it lying on the table, off to the side. The small screen on the front said it was Celia calling. "Hey, Celia," she said in the phone. "What's up?"

She heard the lady breathe out a long breath. "A lot. I've already had to be several places this morning and it's only nine-thirty. I just suddenly remembered I needed to call you to let you know I got Jaiden an appointment at her old counseling office this afternoon. So sorry for the late notice, by the way." It sounded like Celia was driving at the moment. "If you or Louis can't take her, I can set up transportation to take her instead. I mean, she'll meet the therapist alone, but that could be best. Less pressure not having an extra person there."

Lorelai gave Rory a shrug, confused at the mention of somebody named, Louis. "Okay, first of all, who?"

"Who, what? The therapist?" she asked. "Erica, I guess, ended up having to move back home for a family emergency, a couple weeks ago. So somebody else will be seeing Jaiden. The lady I spoke to, says she's very nice. Sweet, even. So maybe she'll be able to help Jaiden more than Erica could, and what with the trial being a couple days away, it would be good for Jaiden to see somebody, to prep and sort through the feelings she's having."

"Yes, I agree with you there, but what I meant was, you said if I or _Louis_ couldn't take her. Did you mean, Luke?"

"Uh, yes." Celia paused before she suddenly added, "Crap. Sorry about that," in realization of the mistake. "Yes, I meant Luke."

Lorelai just snickered in a teasing way. "No problem. Just thought I'd make sure."

At least Celia was a good sport about it, laughing along with her.

"I can take her, though," Lorelai assured the woman. "It's no problem."

"Are you sure? I know it's late notice, and I know you have work."

"Don't worry about it. It's one of the perks of being the boss, or one of the bosses, I mean. I've told them stuff might come up before starting this whole adoption process, and they promised to pick up the slack for me whenever I needed it. So, what time is the appointment?"

"Two o'clock. Same office."

"Okay. Well then, I will make sure she will be there."

"Thanks so much, Lorelai. You're awesome." Celia blew a sigh of relief.

Lorelai smiled. "So, I've been told." She looked up when Rory grabbed her attention and nodded behind her mom. Lorelai twisted around to see Jaiden standing there, still in her pajamas. Her hair was a mess like the kid had slept on her head and the neck of her pajama t-shirt was stretched out and hanging off of her shoulder. She was rubbing her eye with her fist, still trying to wake up, holding Stanley in her other arm. "Oh, Jaiden's awake if you want to talk to her."

"Yeah, put her on."

Lorelai held the phone out to the little girl. "Celia's on the phone, sweetheart. She wants to say hello and catch up with you."

Jaiden took the phone and put it to her ear. The conversation was one-sided and neither Lorelai or Rory knew what was being said for the next two minutes. Afterwards, Jaiden gave her foster mom back the phone. Celia had hung up so Lorelai figured that was all she needed to say.

"What did Celia say?" she asked.

Jaiden just shrugged.

"You were listening, right?"

She nodded.

"That's good," Lorelai gave her a smile. "Want some breakfast?"

Again, she nodded.

"Cereal okay?"

A third nod. So Lorelai got up to grab a bowl.

Jaiden finally spoke up at that point. "Can I have strawberry milk, too?" It was in a timid tone, though.

"Sure, sweetheart." Lorelai got the bowl from the cupboard, bringing it over to the table for the kid before going back to grab a cup, grabbing the one she had found with Diego printed around the sides, and grabbed the strawberry mix from atop the refrigerator.

When Lorelai started to pour in the first spoonful, Jaiden jumped off the chair she was sitting in to rush over and stop her.

"Too much," she said when Jaiden saw how much Lorelai was pouring in. "It only needs two small spoonfuls." Apologizing, Lorelai made sure to put some back before pouring in the right amount. "That enough?" Lorelai made sure, receiving a head nod, and took it over to the table where she poured the milk in next and let Jaiden stir.

"Thank you," Jaiden said, politely.

Lorelai reached over to brush some hair down for the kid. "You are very welcome, sweetheart." She then took her hand back to let Jaiden eat her breakfast. "So, did Miss Celia tell you, you're gonna have a new therapist? It's not gonna be Erica anymore."

She nodded while munching on some Cheerios.

"We'll probably leave after lunch, okay?"

Again, she nodded.

"Are you excited to have a whole new therapist?" Rory asked, this time.

Jaiden just shrugged the shoulder that was showing from underneath her shirt.

"Hopefully she'll be a little more nicer than Erica, huh, Jaiden," Lorelai smiled at her.

Swallowing the last bit she had taken, Jaiden said, softly, "Like you."

"You want a therapist like me?" she asked, excited.

"As nice as you," she corrected.

"Yeah, I don't think they'd let crazy people be therapists," said Rory, teasing her mom.

"Hey," Lorelai protested. "They might."

"Somehow, I highy doubt that. What do you think, Jaiden?" Rory turned to bring the kid into poking fun at Lorelai.

"Mommy would be a good ther'pist," Jaiden defended Lorelai.

Hearing the kid not only defend but call her, Mommy, lifted Lorelai's spirits even more. "Thanks, sweetheart," she told her, and told Rory, "ha!"

"Jaiden doesn't know your full crazy side yet. Give her time and she'll agree with me eventually."

In response to her daughter, Lorelai just stuck her tongue out at her which Rory did the same.

"Tongues belong in our mouths," Jaiden informed them, sounding like a mother scolding her children but not as confident or firm.

"Jaiden, sweetie," Lorelai reached over to gently touch her arm, "we have got to teach you how to be a kid, better."

She gave Lorelai a worried look. "I do something wrong?"

"No, sweetheart," Lorelai assured her. "What I mean is, Rory and I were just having fun. At the right time, it's okay to stick your tongue out at someone and it's perfectly okay. As long as you're not trying to be mean, it's okay to pick on each other, too. It's especially fun to do it to your dad."

"But Daddy doesn't look like he's having fun when you do it," she pointed out.

"Oh, deep down he likes it," Lorelai waved her hand through the air.

Jaiden didn't smile, though.

She touched her arm again. "It's alright, I promise, sweetie. If somebody really didn't like our teasing, we wouldn't do it, I promise. Okay?"

That time, she nodded.

Folding her arms on the table so she could lean on them, Lorelai changed the subject. "There is something I'd like to talk with you about, if that's okay?"

"Am I in trouble?" Jaiden murmured, nervously again.

She shook her head. "Oh, no, sweetheart. You're not in trouble. I just wanted to talk about what happened Friday night at dinner."

"Daddy talked to me already."

"I know he did, and I'm not here to tell you he's wrong. I just want to let you know my side of what happened. Okay?"

Jaiden nodded.

"You see, sweetheart, when my mother told you, you couldn't have Stanley with you at dinner, my first thought was her wanting to control the situation and most importantly you, and I didn't want that. I grew up feeling controlled myself, and I don't want you to feel that way either, especially since you've been controlled pretty much your whole life, as well, by your grandfather. That's why I did what I did. I promised you, you could have Stanley the whole night and I was gonna make sure that promise was kept, and nobody was gonna say other wise."

"Daddy and I came up with ideas for next time."

"I know you did and I understand what it was he was trying to do. Like I said, I'm not saying he was wrong. I know his heart was in the right place, and I'm not here to say don't listen to him. Yes, we have rules to follow, and you should listen to teachers, and police officers, and me and Daddy, especially, but really, sweetheart, I don't want you feeling like…" Lorelai paused briefly, glancing upward, "like you have to do everything somebody tells you without having a say for yourself, and I think Luke may have missed that point. Do you understand what I'm trying to say, sweetheart?"

She nodded.

"All I can really say is this," Lorelai gave the kid's arm a loving squeeze, "just go with your gut. If you feel something isn't right, make a decision for yourself. And we will always hear your side of things and why you did what you did, and if what somebody is telling you is unreasonable, we'll help you fix whatever is going on. Okay?"

Jaiden nodded once more. "But isn't guts what Arnold spills out of bad guys?" she asked, innocently.

Lorelai looked over at Rory, who couldn't help smile at the kid's response. "Yes, guts are what Mister Schwarzenegger spills out of bad guys. But I was referring to the less disgusting guts that doesn't get spilled out by loaded machinery."

Jaiden just shrugged, not understanding what Lorelai was referring to.

"I'm talking about your conscious. Have you heard what your conscious is, sweetheart?"

She slowly shook her head.

"It's that little, tiny voice inside of you that says when you probably shouldn't do something. Like going over Niagara Falls in a barrel, completely naked, for an example."

Jaiden gave a puzzled look at her strange example.

"Mom," Rory told her mother, tilting her head a little.

"What?" Lorelai shrugged at her oldest. "You shouldn't."

"Yes, that may be correct, but you are also confusing the poor kid." Rory looked over towards Jaiden. "Please ignore that last part, Jaiden. Mom's being a doofus."

"She'll learn my sense of humor eventually," Lorelai smiled between the girls.

"Just get back to explaining about her conscious," she told her.

Her smile quickly went away in annoyance. "Alright, alright," she replied and turned back to Jaiden. "But yes, a conscious is that little, tiny voice that knows the right thing to do, and convinces you to follow it. If yours is telling you not to do something that somebody is telling you to do, then you probably shouldn't. That make sense?"

"But mine wanted to keep Stanley," Jaiden said, still confused.

"And you had every right to, and my mother should have accepted our wishes. There was no reason why she couldn't."

Jaiden looked even more confused than before. Her eyes switched between her foster mom and foster sister. "Do I do what Daddy says to do or not?"

"That's up to you to decide. If you feel like you can do without Stanley and trying what the two of you agreed on, then by all means, give it try. If not and you rather have Stanley, than that is perfectly fine with me," Lorelai assured her.

"If I may add, though. Don't try and go out of your way to purposely disobey a rule," said Rory. "Like, if Mom or Luke, or somebody says, don't hit one of your hockey balls towards the house because you might break a window, don't do it just to spite them. Or, uh...draw all over your wall with permanent marker after you were told not to."

Lorelai shrugged at her at that last part. "Why not? If Jaiden wants to decorate her walls, who are we to stop her creativity?"

Rory lightly threw her hand up, while leaning back on her elbow. "I don't know. I was using it for an example because of an incident Dad told me about recently, that GG did. It was fresh in my mind."

"Ah, so GG's gotten to that stage," she nodded, half smirking.

"Stop it," Rory scolded her mother.

Lorelai shrugged innocently. "What? I didn't mean anything by it. I'm just saying, your dad got the stage I got to miss out on." She then proceeded to do a little happy jig in her seat.

"Just for that, I'm gonna go find a permanent marker and I'm gonna tell Jaiden to go draw all over these walls, starting with your room," Rory waved a finger around in emphasis.

"Um, you're forgetting one thing, though."

"And what's that?"

Lorelai held a hand out towards Jaiden as she reminded, "We have an artist in the family. And remember, I'm not just saying that like those parents whose kid draws a scribble and suddenly they're the next Picasso. I mean, a real artist. If anything, it'll liven up the place," she shrugged causally. "Plus, it won't be the same because I won't say no, and we all know Luke won't say no to that cute face."

Rory let out a defeated sigh. She looked over at the little girl just as Jaiden was taking a drink of her milk. "Just a forewarning: we have an annoying mother."

"Whom you love," Lorelai pointed out with a smirk. Not even Rory could resist smirking as well.

"Yes, we do love her, however, she is, one hundred percent, a brat," she added. "Anyways," Rory was the one to change the topic this time. "Seeing as Luke and April had you all weekend, I want to have some time getting to know my little sis, today. What do you say, Jaiden?"

Jaiden just gave a slight shrug with one shoulder, picking up the handle of her spoon.

"We can do anything you want to do," she assured the little girl. "Hey, did you ever get to watch those drawing videos you said you like watching on YouTube?"

She shook her head.

"I can pull them up on my computer and we can watch together if you like."

There was a slight delay but Jaiden gave a small nod. So after they were finished with breakfast, Rory and Jaiden moved to Rory's room where they watched YouTube videos for the next few hours, together. Jaiden even went to grab her sketchbook, wanting to learn more on drawing backgrounds. Rory found her a ruler to use in one of her desk drawers and watched her little sister at work while she followed the person in the video's instructions. Before they knew it, lunch was served, courtesy of Lorelai, who stuck her head in the doorway to let them know.

"You like mac and cheese?" she asked Jaiden when the girls came out of Rory's room, who gave her a nod. They sat down for lunch, this time, joined by April, who had finally woke up not too long ago, not too thrilled to have slept that long since too much can also make one tired.

Lorelai asked if Jaiden wanted her strawberry milk again, with her lunch, letting her know she would make sure to pour the right amount this time.

The front door opened about that time and they heard Luke announce he was home.

"In here," Lorelai called back.

Luke headed inside the kitchen where Jaiden slid off of her chair to go greet him, hugging his legs. "Hey, Tiger." He repeatedly rubbed her back with both hands as he was hunched over. Luke then told her to go finish eating so they could leave afterwards. Luke had called earlier to check in on Jaiden, and was told about meeting with a new therapist. Since he was coming home for lunch anyway, Luke took the afternoon off, wanting to come too.

He walked over to Lorelai. "You cooked?" Luke teased this time, staring into the pot of mac and cheese on the stove.

She leaned over to kiss him. "Hey, I cook. Sometimes."

"Well, smells good," Luke smiled for her, taking the bowl she handed to him. Even Paul Anka got his own plate, of course.

Once lunch was finished, Lorelai, Luke, and Jaiden headed out to the jeep where Jaiden climbed into the back on Lorelai's side. On the way, Lorelai decided to make up games to play with Jaiden to help her feel relaxed. One game in particular, they had to find things that were the current color, pointing out things that was blue, for example.

"You see anything blue, sweetheart?" she asked, glancing out of the corner of her eye, behind her.

"The sky?" Jaiden answered shyly.

"Yep, that's one. What else?"

Jaiden looked around at their surroundings. Finally, she pointed a finger at Luke's side of the wind shield, at a blue car. "That car is blue."

"Yeah, awesome job, kiddo," Lorelai praised, happily. The game had to be put on hold when Rascal Flatts came on the radio and Jaiden had to sing along. When it was over, the DJ came on the radio.

" _That was Rascal Flatts' 'Why Wait'. Don't forget, Rascal Flatts will be right here in Hartford at the Meadows Music Theater, June twenty-six. There's still time to get your tickets."_

Lorelai quickly glanced over at Luke who did the same. She still kept most of her attention on the road ahead. What were the odds of the kid's favorite band being in town this summer? That would be a terrific experience for her.

"You think we should?"

He shrugged. "I mean, it'll probably be a long time before they come back."

Lorelai glanced up at Jaiden in the rearview mirror. She hadn't seen the kid react at all when the DJ mentioned it, but probably wasn't paying attention. Or, possibly wouldn't expect it which would make it even better. They at least agreed to look into seeing how much the tickets would cost since the concert was just a couple weeks away. If nothing else, one of them could take her.

Finally, Lorelai got off the highway and drove into Hartford's city limits. The rest of the drive took another fifteen minutes until she pulled into the parking lot of the counseling services building and parked underneath a shade tree. They then headed inside where Lorelai was the one to sign Jaiden in and let the woman sitting behind the desk know they had a two o'clock appointment. She turned around when Lorelai was finished to the most unexpected and adorable sight. "Are you coloring?" she asked of Luke, trying to contain a snicker.

"Jaiden asked me to, alright? Can we not make it a big deal?" Luke continued coloring what looked like a picture of Mickey Mouse, one of the few least embarrassing of the office's coloring books. He was also sitting cross-legged on the floor since the table got moved to the other side of the waiting area away from the adult-sized chairs. Well, Lorelai was right about one thing, Luke can not say no to that cute face. He was glad when a lady finally called Jaiden's name fifteen minutes later.

Jaiden hugged Stanley to her as they made their way over.

"Hi, I'm Melody Gavins," she introduced herself as the woman held out her hand.

"I'm Lorelai Danes, and this is my husband, Luke," Lorelai returned the handshake.

Luke did too.

Melody looked down at Jaiden. "And this must be Jaiden Reese." She bent over, folding her hands in her legs. "Hey there. What's your dog's name?"

Jaiden kept her chin pinned to her chest while standing completely still. Melody tried guessing usual dog names but the kid remained unmoved until the woman backed off. Melody then led them down the hall, past Erica's old office. Hers was slightly a bit bigger and had a kid's table in the center of the room. Small shelves lined the walls of toys, books, and puzzles.

"You can play with any toy you see, Jaiden," Melody told her and offered the adults a chair. Lorelai pulled up a seat at the kid's table while Luke looked around the room in confusion.

"Um, where are the chairs for the adults?" he asked.

"I like to keep things at the kid's level," she explained and held a hand out towards a chair for him.

A look of discomfort was all over the poor guy's face as he looked down before slowly lowering himself onto the kid's chair. It was big and sturdy enough to support an adult his size but it still looked funny seeing him sitting there.

"Man, I have got to start carrying a camera in my purse." It was obvious Lorelai was enjoying this the most.

Luke just threw her an annoyed look.

Jaiden sat in between her foster parents, still looking downward.

"So," Melody began, organizing the file they recognized as the one Erica kept. "I spoke with Celia Evans and she brought me up to speed a little bit about what's been going on, and about the last few years Jaiden has been in foster care. I've also…"

Luke could not sit still, fidgeting in his tiny seat, trying to find a comfortable position. He apologized before finally just taking the chair away and sitting on the floor, cross-legged again. "Go on," he encouraged, now embarrassed having all three sets of eyes on him.

Melody politely made sure he was all settled before continuing. It seemed like she was a good sport about it, but was also trying to stifle a snicker like his wife was doing. Jaiden was the only one who actually looked concerned for the poor guy.

"As I was saying," Melody even had to clear her throat to help her become serious again. "I also read through Erica Robertson's case file, here. So I have some understanding, but I'd like to hear from you," she directed towards the couple. "I like hearing from the true source which is Jaiden, here, but if she's not comfortable with speaking, that's okay, too. There's no rush." That was relieving to hear her say that, for both of them, and hopefully Jaiden as well.

"Well, for starters, Jaiden's a great kid," Lorelai instantly replied. "I can't express that enough."

She nodded at that. "Okay."

"She's an artist, full of imagination, and is way better at sports than I am."

Luke held his arms folded in front of his chest. "She gives me a run for my money, and I grew up playing sports." He smiled over at the little girl.

"She's sweet, inquisitive if she feels comfortable enough to ask, and has a huge heart. Bigger than my oldest daughter's and I never thought that was possible."

Melody was listening while taking down notes. "What about school? Does she do well in school?"

"She's still a year behind," Lorelai explained. "She'll be repeating the second grade over again this upcoming school year. But her teachers said, once she gasps the material, Jaiden does very well. It just takes her longer, and that's okay," she quickly added for Jaiden, reminding her of their talk the other night. Lorelai noticed Jaiden steal a quick peek up at her and playfully grabbed onto her knee.

"And what about you, Mister Danes?" Melody looked over at Luke, to hear from him.

"Uh, well, I agree. Once you explain where she can understand, Jaiden can pick up anything. Didn't take me long to teach her how to fish this past weekend. We had a great time, didn't we, Tiger?" Luke turned to Jaiden, who stole a peek over at him as well.

They finished bringing Melody up on what the two of them have come to see in Jaiden since they met her. Most of it was positive of course, but they had to mention the night terrors, including the reason behind it.

"Yes, Celia did mention there is a trial on Wednesday regarding her grandfather, who is also," she was skimming through the file until she came to a particular page. "Who is also her father?" Melody sounded surprised as she read that but gave a sympathetic look towards them, especially over at Jaiden.

"Unfortunately," Luke answered, still just as bitter.

"I've also been told there are also problems with Jaiden telling the truth about past abuse that has happened involving the grandfather."

Lorelai nodded. "That's right. Just yesterday, though, Jaiden has been able to come forward and was able to share a little bit with Luke while they were fishing."

"And how did that go?"

"Not the way we would have liked." Luke then went on to explain how it had happened, the day before.

Melody made a few more notes. "Do you think it helped? Like a weight was lifted off of her?"

He shook his head. "Not even close. At least not yet."

"Can you explain?"

Luke then mentioned about the night before of the most recent night terror and that this time, it caused her to wet the bed, something she hadn't done before. "If anything, she's even more scared."

"And Jaiden has to speak up in court to testify against him," Melody nodded.

Both Luke and Lorelai nodded in response. Now that they were talking about her grandfather, Jaiden ended up sliding off of her seat and dropped into Luke's lap, burying her face against him as she curled into a ball.

"Luke's the only one she has come to feel safe with the most," Lorelai was the one to explain. "Which is great since she had a huge fear of men because of her grandfather when she first came to live with us back in March."

Melody made a note of it. "So, with that fear of men, is it just Luke, she's now fine with. Or, if a colleague of mine were to walk in right now, would Jaiden be fine?"

"New people she's still skittish with. Since Luke's sister and her family spends a lot of time at the diner he owns, Jaiden's been warming up to her husband little by little, right?" Lorelai looked over towards Luke for confirmation.

"I mean, she's not giving hugs or anything, but things seem to be getting better. Then again, I think it helps my brother-in-law is pretty much a big kid himself."

"That does sometimes make things a little bit easier," Melody nodded in agreement. "What about with your sister? I know you said Jaiden's fear is with men," she held a hand out towards Lorelai, "is there some fear there, or is Jaiden okay with women?"

"There is some hesitance with women as well," said Lorelai, "but it's not as bad when it's a guy."

"Okay. I was just wondering because," she flipped through some more pages. "It says there was some physical and emotional abuse from the mother as well."

"Yes, there was." Lorelai then shared with the therapist what Katherine had told her and why she did what she did.

Once she had enough information she needed, Melody set her yellow tablet on the table and moved a few sheets of paper towards the edge closer to where Luke and Jaiden were. "You said Jaiden was an artist, right?" she asked of both him and Lorelai.

Lorelai nodded, "That's correct, yes. Very gifted for someone her age, actually."

"I've seen the ones she drew for Erica, and couldn't believe Jaiden had drawn them, myself," Melody admitted, reaching across the table for a box of thirty-two crayons, to open them. She turned her head over towards Jaiden, to ask, "Jaiden, would you mind drawing some pictures for me about how you're feeling right now?"

Jaiden didn't move. She remained huddled in a ball in Luke's lap. Lorelai explained about how Jaiden had stopped drawing for Erica the last time she drew for her. Thankfully, as long as the kid knew the difference between reality and fantasy, Melody didn't see a problem with it, growing up in a family with mainly boys who liked to play with toy guns and grew up just fine, and assured Jaiden, she could draw whatever she wanted. They wanted to help the kid, they needed to let Jaiden freely express herself without any judgment or shaming. With some encouragement from her foster parents as well, the kid slowly climbed out of Luke's lap and sat in her seat again, asking Luke for a pencil, preferring to start with a pencil instead of with crayons. Melody stood up to grab one from a pen/pencil cup from a paint-your-own-pottery place. It looked like a mother's day gift painted by a little kid.

Even having not spoken a word up till this point, Jaiden managed to timidly say thank you when Melody handed her the pencil.

"You're welcome, Jaiden," she replied, sitting back in her seat. While the kid drew, the adults talked some more about Jaiden. There was a realization when Luke and Lorelai realized Jaiden hadn't had any freak-outs since being back home. Not awake anyway. Though, it helped that Doola had finally learned to respect Jaiden's personal space and property since what happened last time involving the Diego toy.

As time went on, the adults noticed Jaiden start to hold her arm around what she was drawing as if she didn't want anyone to see it until she was done. Now and then, she would switch her pencil for a crayon to color in something. Melody gave Jaiden the rest of their time together while they talked before asking to see it. Jaiden twisted around in her seat to let Lorelai see her picture first.

Lorelai took the picture from her to look at it. What she saw, though, made her heart break. There was a large, shadowy figure that took up one whole half of the page holding something in their hand while a smaller person was curled in a ball, with tears pouring from closed eyes. The smaller person seemed to be covered in purple spots.

"Is this you and your grandfather, sweetheart?"

Jaiden timidly nodded at her foster mom. "My bad dream from last night," she admitted, in a soft, scared tone. Her chest was starting to move faster as if she was running.

"Is this what you usually dream about?"

Jaiden shook her head. "P-Papa…"

Luke reached over to rub her back, making the kid flinch from the surprise. "Just me, Tiger."

Melody remained quiet, watching the family.

"Papa, what, sweetheart? What were you about to say?" Lorelai asked, encouraging the kid to continue.

Jaiden looked over at her foster mom again. Her eyes filled with tears as she stared up into hers. "I-I'm scared…"

"Of your grandfather?"

The little girl took a deep breath before nodding. "Wasn't supposed to tell." By now, the tears escaped, starting with one lone tear.

"Oh, hun," Lorelai gave Jaiden a heartfelt look. "Don't believe that. He shouldn't have done those things to you. It was good you said something."

Jaiden just continued to stare up at her.

"We're only trying to help you, Jaiden. Your grandfather won't do anything to you again, we promise."

Melody finally spoke again. "I'm afraid it's not that easy," she said.

They looked over in the woman's direction.

"What do you mean?" asked Luke.

"No matter how many times you make that promise, her grandfather hurting her will be etched in her mind until proven otherwise," she explained. "This is something that's been sewn into her mind at a young age. Saying it won't happen again will not make it true for her until Jaiden is able to see that her grandfather can't hurt her anymore with her own eyes and even then, the healing process still takes time."

Lorelai switched from Melody, back to Jaiden. "And we'll do whatever it takes to try and prove that. Okay, sweetheart?"

Jaiden looked back when she heard her foster mom.

"Whenever things get too much for you while you're up there on the stand, just look over at me and Luke, Jaiden. Look at us and remember what I said this morning. Go with what your gut is telling you, and we'll be there with you every step of the way. It's okay to be scared, but don't let it keep you down. Do you think Arnold Schwarzenegger lets fear stop him from kicking bad guys' butts?" She smiled for the kid.

Jaiden shook her head at the mention of her hero.

"Remember when you were afraid to jump in the water?" Luke reminded her.

She nodded.

"But you did it anyway and you were able to swim to me and April. You took that leap even though you were scared, and you were able to learn to swim, and you can do this too, Tiger."

"You got this, kid," Lorelai insisted with an encouraging smile. "We all believe in you."

Suddenly, Jaiden jumped off her seat and hugged her foster mom around the neck. Lorelai automatically wrapped her arms around the little girl, feeling the kid tighten her grip, holding on even more so than before.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Tuesday morning, Jaiden wanted to go to the diner for breakfast. Mainly wanting the safety of having her daddy nearby as Lorelai figured out. While the girls were eating, Liz, TJ, and Doula stopped in, happy to see the little girl, though thankfully refrained from physically showing any affection.

TJ kneeled beside Jaiden's chair. "Hey, brought ya a little something," he held out a copy of the next issue of the _X-men_ comic book he had promised a while back. Jaiden seemed to perk up at the sight of the comic book with the colorful _X-men_ characters on the front cover.

She timidly took it from the guy. "Thank you," Jaiden told him, softly.

"Yeah, you're welcome, Jay," TJ replied cheerfully. "This one's actually one of my favorites, too. You'll really enjoy this one."

A slight smile was trying to escape.

Liz was standing nearby on the other side of her husband, happily watching the two. She looked over at Lorelai, asking how she was doing before getting to the big question. "I'm just asking but, any chance this weekend coming up could be _thee_ weekend? Pretty please?"

Lorelai casually gave a quick shrug. "If Jaiden's up for it, sure," she replied.

At that point, Luke wobbled over as if there was something wrong with his leg. "Does this belong to you?" he asked of his sister, "because she's not listening to a word I tell her."

"Oh, Doula," Liz told her daughter, but not anywhere close to a firm tone. "You know your uncle doesn't like it when you grab onto his leg. Come on," she leaned over to try and peel the toddler off, but Doula still refused to let go, holding onto her uncle's leg.

"No!" she screamed instead, getting everyone's attention.

"Princess, what's wrong?" TJ asked of Doula.

"It no fair!" she continued to scream.

"What's not fair, hun?" Liz asked that time.

Doula held on even tighter. She shot her head away to look in the opposite direction from the rest of the family. When Liz tried once more to peel the youngest little girl away, the grip got even more tighter.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure she is cutting off my circulation," Luke pointed out. "Doula, sweetie, I need you to let go."

"No!"

April tried stepping in and persuading her cousin to let go. Not even she had any luck and April was Doula's favorite person. Both TJ and Lorelai tried as well, but was about as successful as the rest were. Instead, Doula kept screaming, "no," and how something was unfair.

Thankfully, April had everyone stop trying to peel Doula away and kneeled beside her dad to her cousin's level, to look at her. "What's unfair, Doula?" she asked, making sure to let the little girl know she would listen to whatever Doula was finding unfair at the moment.

The lip was sticking clear out, something that Luke recalled Liz doing when they were kids whenever she was upset over something she thought was unfair, as well. After another push, Doula finally said, "J'n ge's to hug U'co Lu's leg an' no me. E'ryone likes her now." The bitterness was strong with this one, in fact. It all made sense now, though.

"Being the youngest and the center of everyone's attention, it seems like Doula has become jealous of Jaiden taking that away from her," Lorelai was the first one to say out loud.

Luke felt guilty to hear his niece felt left out and jealous of Jaiden. He looked between the two girls. A guilty look was also on Jaiden's face as well.

"Oh, sweetheart, we still love you, and so does Uncle Luke," Liz tried to assure her.

Luke leaned over to try and lift his niece up, insisting on wanting to talk to her. It took a few tugs until he got a bit firm and lifted Doula onto his side. "Sweetie," he said, but had to tell her to look at him when Doula refused to. "I don't mind when you grab onto my leg when I don't have anything in my hands that can fall and make a mess. Okay?"

"But you, an' Mommy, an' Daddy like J'n be'tur," she continued to say.

"No, we don't, sweetie," he shook his head repeatedly. "We all love you and Jaiden equally. "We don't love anyone any less."

"But Daddy keeps giving her tings, and Mommy wan's to go ride ponies wi'ow me wi'er. An' I no got to go play wi' A-pol yet." The more Doula shared her jealousy, the more Jaiden seemed to retreat inside herself.

Liz gently grabbed onto her daughter's arm. "You're still our little princess, sweetheart," she assured the toddler.

"Yeah, that won't ever change," TJ added with a smile. "You will still be our princess, forever and ever."

"And there's still plenty of time for us to spend time together before I have to leave again," April also told her cousin.

"You see," Liz smiled. "Having Jaiden here won't make us love you any less than we do. It's like Uncle Luke and Aunt Lorelai having a new baby. Jaiden is new to our family, and we want her to feel welcome, and get to know her while she gets to know us. Just like when you get a new toy. All you want to do is play with the new toy, but that doesn't mean you don't love your other toys. You see what I'm saying, sweetie?"

Doula still continued to hold her bitter, jealous stare.

Finally, Luke carried his niece over to the counter to set her down, calling Jaiden over as well. "It's okay, Tiger. No one's in trouble," he assured but she still timidly slid off her chair and watched her feet as Jaiden came over.

Luke lifted the older little girl up onto the counter beside where Doula was sitting, making sure there was some space between the girls. He then pulled a stool over to sit on, facing them. "Listen, girls," he looked over at the youngest one, "I know things have been crazy and it seems all my attention has gone towards Jaiden. I need you both to understand that I will be there for _all_ of my girls, and that includes your mom," he motioned towards Doula before motioning towards Jaiden, "your mom, April, and, yes, you girls."

"Hey, what about me?" TJ protested, shrugging his hands out.

It made Luke let out a sigh, his eyes closed. He opened them to add, "and your dad," towards Doula. Rory also joined in just to pick on him, which Luke also included before asking the whole diner, "anyone else want in on this?" making Doula giggle at her uncle's predicament he seemed to have gotten himself into. Kirk of course took him seriously so Luke had to include him.

"My point is, I will be there for everyone as I possibly can be," he finally told the girls. "But I am only human and can't be there for everyone all at once. As your mom said, adopting Jaiden is very similar to as if your Aunt Lorelai and I had a baby. For a while, yes, it may seem like Jaiden has all of our attention, but once you're feeling up to it, Tiger," he looked over at Doula, "you can come over and play at our house, and hey, maybe when Jaiden goes to spend time with your mom, you and I can spend some time with each other. How's that sound?"

Doula perked up all excited, clapping her hands. "Yeah! Yeah!" she chanted over and over again, making Jaiden lean as far away as she possibly could on her right hand.

Luke settled the princess down before switching over to Jaiden. "And, Tiger, I know you're not used to all this attention you're getting, and it's all okay. I saw you probably was feeling guilty when Doula admitted she was jealous of you, and you're not used to that either, huh? Having somebody jealous of you, for a change?"

Jaiden shook her head.

He playfully squeezed her knee. "If it helps, I was feeling a little guilty myself."

Jaiden perked up at that confession with surprised interest.

"It's okay to feel that way, Tiger. We're all human," Luke assured, now rubbing her knee in a reassuring motion, and turned back to Doula, "and that goes for you too. Okay, Princess?" He smiled at that. "It's okay to feel jealous. I know you're used to being everyone's center of attention, but you're not the only kid anymore. Okay?"

Doula gave a small nod. "Okay," she said but wasn't fully convinced. "I no like it but okay."

He gave a simple shrug. "That's fine. I don't expect you to be okay with it all at once. But you should be happy to know Jaiden's not into being a princess like you are so you'll always be my only little princess while Jaiden's my little tiger." Luke switched back to Jaiden. "The same goes for you, Tiger. You'll always be my little tiger cub." Looking between the two little girls, repeatedly, he told them, "okay, girls?"

Both girls nodded.

With that settled for now, Luke motioned the girls in and hugged them both each in one arm. He lifted his head to kiss their heads. "I love the both of you very much, and nothing can make me love one over the other." Luke gently squeezed both of his girls in a loving embrace. He even ended up lifting Jaiden and Doula up onto his sides as he stood to his feet.

Luke then asked Doula, "Feeling better?"

She nodded from his shoulder.

"How about you?" he switched over to Jaiden, who also gave him a nod from his other shoulder. Planting one last kiss on each of the girls' foreheads, Luke carefully lowered them down on the feet. Though, he ended up sighing at the mistake of setting Doula down first when she protested. She was definitely TJ's kid.

With that taken care of, Liz wanted to have a word with her youngest niece, calling her over while the rest distracted Doula. Luke overheard her ask if Jaiden would be up for spending some one on one time, assuring it was all up to her and that she wouldn't hurt Liz's feelings if Jaiden wasn't ready quite yet. He couldn't help sneak a quick peek with some anxiousness.

"I know you like animals and going to a zoo seemed too obvious," she was explaining. "So I did some digging around and found this place that gives horseback riding lessons, and it can be ongoing if you end up liking it. What do ya say?"

Luke stole another quick peek. To his delight, and Liz's, Jaiden gave her a nod.

"Really? You'll come riding with me?"

Again, Jaiden nodded.

Liz was extremely happy. "Oh, that's so wonderful, Jay. We're gonna have so much fun, and I'll make sure to be right there with you the whole time." The excitement was cut short when Jaiden caught sight of Doula reaching for Stanley, who was sitting on the table, and rushed over to grab the toy out of the younger girl's reach, squeezing it to her chest.

"W'n you gunna share, J'n?" Doula asked of the older little girl.

"Sweetie, remember what we talked about, last time?" Liz reminded her daughter. "Jaiden doesn't have to share her toy if she doesn't want to. Yes, it is nice to share but it's not necessary."

Doula still pouted though. That is until April tickled the poutingness away. She stopped however when Jaiden suddenly blurted out, "no!"

Liz kneeled beside her niece. "What's wrong, Jay?"

Jaiden held her dog up to her face, worriedly giving her big sister a timid stare.

Already having experienced this, Lorelai spoke up. "Jaiden's worried April might be hurting Doula. Is that it, sweetheart?"

Timidly, Jaiden slowly nodded, not taking her eyes off the girls. Lorelai suggested April not do that right now.

"Ohhh, sweetie. You were just worried for your cousin?" Liz asked, receiving a nod. "Do you mind if I give ya a hug?" To everyone's relief, Jaiden nodded her head, allowing Liz to wrap an arm around the little girl and gently squeezed her close, though there was some tenseness of course. Afterwards, she reassured her, "April wasn't hurting Doula, okay? They were just playing." Liz had moved her hand towards Jaiden's back, now giving it a comforting rub.

Doula didn't understand why April had to stop and tried to get her to tickle her again, but April told her, later, and explained to the youngest little girl in the simplest terms why they couldn't do it now. Doula tried to assure Jaiden, she wasn't being hurt and that it was fun, but Jaiden wasn't convinced. When Doula continued to press further, April suggested going over to the park to play, offering if Jaiden wanted to come too, who didn't.

Later, Luke ended up finding Jaiden curled up in a small space she had found under his counter, reading through her newest comic book. Stanley was wrapped inside her arm. Normally he didn't allow anyone to come behind his counter, but gave a pass for a select few, his small tiger cub included.

The big day had finally arrived. Everyone tried to be encouraging and supportive for their little Jaiden. Liz and TJ had begged Luke to let them come, offering up their minivan they had gotten a year ago now that Doula was getting older and already making friends. Plus Luke and Lorelai announcing they were going to adopt added the final piece for them wanting to get one.

Liz had Lorelai sit up front with her to help with the directions and for some 'girl talk' while the men sat in the seats behind them, with Rory, April, and Jaiden sitting in the back together. Doula had a playdate, set up since this wasn't something Liz wanted her young daughter exposed to whatever could happen. It was worse enough Jaiden had to be a part of all this. The least they could do was keep the other little one away and having some fun with her best friend.

As they were leaving Stars Hollow to head for Hartford, TJ suggested putting a movie on to help calm Jaiden's nerves. Liz ejected the current DVD that was in the disc player to see what it was, finding Doula's _Barney the Dinosaur_ DVD.

"Isn't Jaiden a little old for that?" Luke was the one to ask when his sister slipped the disc back in.

"I thought she was still into the preschool cartoons," TJ was the one to point out, cornering the guy. So they started the DVD and Barney's theme song began, with him and Liz singing along, trying to get Jaiden to join in. Not even five minutes went by and the kids on the small TV hanging from the ceiling was already singing the first song.

Lorelai and Rory joined in, along with April when Rory nudged her with her elbow, all hoping to get the youngest one smiling. TJ playfully slapped Luke on the arm to also join in who remained a mule.

"You know, Dad, I bet Jaiden will if you will," April pointed out to Luke who was sitting behind TJ's seat.

"Come on, Luke," Lorelai also playfully slapped his knee, twisted around in her own seat, and gave him a look that reminded him where they were going, when he still refused. So, taking in a deep breath and letting it out, Luke starting singing along to _If You're Happy and You Know It_ , trying as hard as he could to actually be happy. Only for his tiger cub. Sure enough, that was the last piece they needed to finally get Jaiden to join in.

At first, they just heard a word or two as the kid mumbled the words softly. At the shout hooray part, Jaiden only softly said hooray while shyly lifting her arms up above her head, copying what Rory was doing. When the song finally was over, they all cheered for her and praised Jaiden for singing along, clapping their hands.

Luke breathed a sigh of relief the song was finally over. That is until the next one started. Thankfully, this time the ladies and TJ were able to get Jaiden to sing along again so he could sit this one out, hoping this nightmare would end soon. Unfortunately, the DVD was forty-five minutes long and since it was a weekday morning, there was traffic on the highway. After fifteen minutes, Luke was wanting to pull his hair out as he kept his face in his hand, running it down and rubbed at his eyes, repeatedly over and over. He was glad Jaiden could be entertained and her mind taken off of the trial and testifying against her grandfather, but did it have to be from a singing and dancing, purple dinosaur?

By the time Liz finally pulled into the parking lot of the courthouse, the credits were rolling up on the screen.

Luke had to force a smile when Jaiden informed him, she loved Barney now. "That's great," he managed to muster up as much excitement as he could. So now instead of having to watch it occasionally whenever Doula spent the night, now it would be more often. That is super de duper as Barney would say... _not!_ But again, at least it helped Jaiden because once they got inside Hartford's courthouse, Luke would actually start missing the purple dinosaur himself.

They met up with Celia and Jerry, along with their lawyer, introducing him which Lorelai introduced Liz and TJ.

While they were heading inside, Luke had felt Jaiden slip her small hand inside of his and hadn't let go since. As they stood outside the courtroom, the little girl was inching closer and closer until she was balancing on top of his feet, holding his arm wrapped in front of her as her eyes scanned around the large room. In her other arm, she was squeezing the stuffing out of Stanley. Luke and Lorelai had dressed up for the trial, having Jaiden wear one of her nice outfits as well, wearing her white collared shirt. Rory had even brushed her hair for the little girl.

Since she was scouting around, keeping her eye out for a certain someone, Jaiden was the first to spot him. She quickly spun around, hiding her face against Luke's leg.

Luke looked down, running a hand along the back of her head. "What's wrong, Tiger?" he asked. Glancing upward, that's when he too spotted him. "It's okay, Tiger. I got ya. It's gonna be alright, I promise," he assured her.

Rory, April, Liz, and TJ had to move over to sit in some nearby chairs to let the others talk and discuss things while they waited for the trial to begin.

Celia was the next to spot Howard as he was coming over. A brown, leather, expensive-looking briefcase was in his right hand.

"Good morning, ladies, gentlemen," he greeted the group, professionally. His other hand was tucked inside the pocket of his tan dress pants. Howard too was dressed for the occasion, but tan instead of black. Unlike Luke's black tie, his was a teal color. If one looked real close, they could see a diagonal pattern with two shades of teal.

Celia, Jerry, and their lawyer responded with professionalism while Luke and Lorelai remained silent. Eventually, it was Lorelai who mustered up a quick "good morning", but Luke stubbornly refused to say anything unless he absolutely had to. In fact, he lifted Jaiden into his arms, not just for her, but to keep himself from punching the guy square in the face. Jaiden did not complain, either. She automatically grabbed onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Luke could feel her small form the tensest he's felt from her, yet and completely shaking. He rubbed a hand along her back for comfort, all the while, keeping a watchful eye on her grandfather.

After the greetings and small talk, Howard turned his head towards Luke and Jaiden.

"Jaiden, aren't you going to acknowledge your Papa?" he asked of her.

Luke was about to say something when it was Lorelai who beat him to it. "And why should she?" she asked of the man. By the harsh tone and hard glare, it was clear Lorelai also wanted to tear into the old man.

It was Celia who held her hand out to the woman to settle her down.

Howard seemed to be unfazed by it anyway. "Jaiden knows what is expected of her," he simply said, seeming to be calm. "Isn't that right, Jaiden?"

Her hold on Luke's neck tightened even more and hid her face inside the crook. Luke continued to rub his hand along her back. "I got ya," he softly reassured her.

Suddenly, Howard firmly snapped, " _Jaiden Presley Reece_ ," causing the kid to flinch upward and force herself to look over at her grandfather. Just in case, Lorelai had thought it a good idea to pack a change of clothes for the kid, especially when the bedwetting had been occuring all week. "You speak when you are spoken to, you hear me?" he told her, still in the same firm tone.

She tried to nod towards him until Howard informed he couldn't hear her. "Y-yes, Papa."

"Why don't you buzz off," Lorelai suggested, "and leave the poor kid alone."

Howard quickly looked over at her. "None of this concerns any of you. All of you are filling her head with all kinds of lies, unjustly keeping _my_ grandchild from me. You and those child services people who get pleasure in tearing families apart."

"I'm sorry you feel we tear families apart. Our goal is to bring families closer together, helping to keep a child safe, and when that is no longer a possibility, we help find a new loving home for them," said Jerry, also remaining calm.

"We were all on your side, Mr. Reese," Celia also told him. "But then it was revealed you were not only Jaiden's grandfather but her father, and not only did your daughter, Katherine speak up, Jaiden has, as well."

"And we have the DNA results to prove it."

Luke and Lorelai couldn't help catch the man's eyes swiftly glance over in Jaiden's direction when Celia mentioned Jaiden had spoken out about the abuse, herself.

"Well, none of your opinions matter. I came over here to see my granddaughter. You can all think what you like, but only Jaiden matters to me. I love her and, yes, she is _like_ a daughter to me since my daughter can't keep her legs close to where she could point out who Jaiden's real father is," he continued the charade.

"Cut the bull," Lorelai snapped at him. "We all know it's you."

Howard glared at her.

Out of protectiveness, Luke pulled his wife closer to him while still keeping an eye on the guy.

The old man scoffed. "You can try to keep this up, but none of you can afford the means to prove your so-called accusations. I know for a fact CPS can't afford such luxuries," he nodded towards Celia and Jerry. Turning back to Luke, Howard tried to insist he put his granddaughter down so he could visit with her. But Luke wasn't intimidated by the man.

"Jaiden Presley, come here and give your Papa a hug." Howard decided to ignore the other adults since none of them were intimidated and go for Jaiden, whom he knew would be.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to, sweetheart," Lorelai reminded the little girl.

"Young lady, you are testing my patience."

Jaiden was constantly switching between her foster parents and grandfather. It did not help when Howard informed her, she was being disrespectful. It actually snapped Luke in alert, realizing that he might have forgotten one piece of detail in their chat the other night. Before he could say anything, someone else came to the kid's rescue. Unexpectedly, to add.

"Get away from my granddaughter, you incestous swine." All heads turned to see Norman had arrived, along with the Gilmores, and Emily did not look one bit pleased.

"I beg your pardon?" Howard replied when it was clear she was referring to him.

"You heard me," she insisted. "You will never again touch a single head on that child's head, and if you do, I will make sure you are locked up for the rest of eternity with a cellmate named Bubba who is so fond of you, he can't keep _his_ hands off of you. Do I make myself clear?"

Both Luke and Lorelai's jaws were pretty much on the floor. She was loud enough even the others could hear, making Rory's drop as well.

"You have no idea who you are talking to, Miss," Howard managed to stand his ground but even he seemed to be a bit on the intimidated side.

"Oh, trust me, I know exactly who you are," she gave him a confident nod. "Howard James Reese, one of the richest men in all of Hartford, and owner of several very successful business companies. You even own a major league baseball team." At the mention of owning a baseball team, Luke was now praying it wasn't one of the teams he liked. "Your wife, Kathleen Reese, would paint and sell her work at many dinner functions up until she grew ill. Your daughter, Katherine Reese ran off as soon as she turned eighteen, having to put herself through college until she too became a successful business woman for a company she started at as the night janitor. Rumors has surrounded your family, Mr. Reese, for many years, including your estrangement from your only daughter, and the fact you can't seem to keep a secretary or maid even worse than I can. Should I go on?"

Howard tugged at his tie, moving it from side to side as he cleared his throat. "So, you know how to use Google," he shrugged off, trying to remain calm.

Emily just smiled at him. "No, I just have friends in my DAR group that love to keep up on the latest gossip."

A short, round man with balding hair waved a hand over to Howard, grabbing his attention. Switching between the group, he warned, "don't think you've won this," before finally walking away. Though, the old man wouldn't admit defeat, Howard indeed lost the first round.

Now that, that was over, Lorelai was trying to find her voice when the others joined them. Celia, Jerry, and their lawyer introduced themselves since nobody else could speak.

"Wow, Grandma," Rory was the one who could speak once they were through. "That was...incredible."

"Well, after you all left, Friday night, your grandfather had showed me all those books of his," she said.

"And I explained everything I had researched," Richard added.

"So, when I met with the ladies, the following afternoon, for our DAR meeting, I asked if they had heard of anything on the Reese family. In fact, there's actually been speculation of something going on in that family of theirs, especially Howard Reese himself, for years. They never even discussed their personal life except for a few lines to keep people satisfied, and Kathleen always seemed such a nervous woman whenever her husband was around and Katherine was always a quiet girl just as Jaiden is now."

That did sound like what Lorelai had noticed of Katherine when they met.

"Not to mention, Howard himself is shady in his actions," said Richard. "Any time any other company did business with him, they suddenly went bankrupt even if they were too had been doing so well, financially."

"Do you have proof of any of this?" Celia and Jerry's lawyer asked.

Norman raised his own briefcase, patting it with his hand. "Just researched it last night. I am basically running on coffee at this point."

While the two lawyers talked, Lorelai was finally able to find her words.

"Mom, I don't know what to say. Thank you."

"Before your father filled me in on everything, I hadn't assumed how bad things were. I thought Jaiden's upbringing was just old fashioned everyone today disapproved of. I had no idea it was much worse than that," Emily explained. The older woman turned her attention towards the frightened little girl in Luke's arms. "Jaiden, I am humbly sorry. I can't imagine what exactly it is you are living with, and I am willing to come up with a compromise between us if you are."

Both Luke and Lorelai quickly exchanged surprised stares.

"If it helps you to hold onto a toy, you are most certainly able to, even at our dinner table."

Luke just about dropped the kid upon hearing Emily Gilmore release all restraint on one of her rules, thankfully snapping out of it to catch her before she fell.

"Luke, be careful," Emily scolded the man. "You almost dropped her."

"Wait, Mom," Lorelai spoke up at that point. "What's the catch?"

"There's no catch," she shrugged. "If Jaiden needs to have a security blanket of some sorts while she's getting to know your father and me, then I'm willing to let a rule slide." Emily then added towards Jaiden, "then once you're comfortable with us, the toy will put away. Is that a deal, Miss Jaiden?"

Jaiden looked from Emily, to both of her foster parents, stopping on Luke.

Lorelai smirked. "I knew it," she shook her head. "No matter what, Jaiden will always be allowed to have her dog, Mom."

Jaiden looked back at her foster dad, looking like she was looking for his opinion.

He shrugged, "I think it sounds reasonable, and she is willing to compromise like we talked about. And you even get to keep Stanley, however long it takes for you to get to know Emily and Richard."

"But it's your decision, sweetheart. Remember what I told you, you go with how you feel. You have every right have Stanley whenever you want," Lorelai reminded her.

"I thought you were teaching her about compromising?" Emily asked of her daughter.

Luke was the one to respond, "We were." He couldn't help stare in disbelief, wanting to know more about what Lorelai had been telling Jaiden. He noticed the little girl was looking between him and Lorelai with a confused look on her face. So confused, it made tears appear.

"Hey," he told her gently, rubbing a hand along Jaiden's side, grabbing her attention. "Remember how I said you compromised with dressing up but you didn't have to wear a dress?"

She nodded.

"You, me, and your mom will talk later, but right now, just go with what you think is the right thing. Okay? Emily's willing to compromise, and this is huge for her. Plus, you get to have Stanley. That's what you wanted, right?"

Again, she nodded.

"I goofed again, and forgot to explain about having to listen to adults like your grandfather. I'm sorry, Tiger." Luke watched the little girl for a moment as she stared downward, letting her think on it. Liz and TJ tried to speak up, siding with Luke, but he shushed them, wanting complete silence for her.

Lorelai held her arms folded across her chest as she stared at the floor at her feet.

"Nobody's gonna be upset regardless of your decision," Luke assured her after a couple minutes.

She finally looked up at him and gave him a nod.

"You want to take Emily's deal?" he asked.

Jaiden continued nodding and twisted around in his arms to face Emily. "Deal," she murmured softly.

Emily gave the little girl a kind smile. "That's wonderful to hear. It's a pleasure doing business with you, Miss Jaiden." She offered out a handshake which Luke encouraged Jaiden to accept. Switching Stanley to her other arm, Jaiden timidly reached out and shook the woman's hand, managing a smile.

"Atta, girl," Luke praised, proudly and kissed Jaiden on the cheek while Lorelai had turned around to walk away, keeping her arms folded.

Rory was the one to notice and followed after her mother. "Mom? You okay?"

Lorelai shook her head, over and over, in a slow motion.

"Grandma's compromising with Jaiden. Isn't that what you wanted?"

She just shrugged. "Not like this."

"But once Jaiden gets to know and feels comfortable around Grandma and Grandpa, she won't need Stanley anymore. Right? And Jaiden's willing to try." But Lorelai just shook her head once more. "Well, let's not worry about that now, anyway. We have bigger problems to think about." Rory looked over at where Howard was talking with his own lawyer. "So, that's him, huh?"

"Yep," Lorelai looked over at the grandfather, too, "that's him."

"Wish I could have thought to do some research on the guy." Rory looked back at her mom. "That was awesome of Grandma to ask her friends about him, at least. I mean, that wasn't exactly what we would have expected."

Speaking of, Emily had wandered over to the girls. "I don't understand why you are still upset, Lorelai. Jaiden and I found a compromise just as you wanted," she stated. "I am willing to give Jaiden as much time as she needs. What more could you possibly want?"

Lorelai remained silent, shaking her head at the floor.

Her mother stared at her with a knowing look.

Thankfully, a bailiff stepped out of the courtroom and called their case, grabbing their attention.

"I gotta go, Mom," Lorelai told her mother, in a calm demeanor before rejoining their group. Rory and Emily soon followed after.

Luke was able to push his frustrations to the side for the case at hand. "Ready?" he asked Lorelai. She nodded before the three of them followed everyone inside while their family had to remain outside the courtroom. Jaiden held onto Stanley and Luke as if for dear life as they passed through the doorway and everyone took their seats to wait for the judge.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry it's taken me this long to update! I wanted to focus on my other story for the time being.**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Luke and Lorelai sat on the second bench from the front on their side of the courtroom. Luke held Jaiden on his leg, who was huddled against him, clutching her dog in her arms. It was surely a huge difference from the hearing he had with Anna. Though, he had prepared in the days leading up to this, grabbing a book from the local bookstore while Lorelai, on the other hand, prepared by watching episodes of _Judge Judy_ and _Law & Order_.

"Seriously? That's your research?" Luke questioned in disbelief.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "What? They're good shows."

"You do realize those shows were over dramatized for ratings, right? Courtrooms don't actually run like that," he pointed out.

"And how would you know? They could be."

Luke just rolled his eyes and turned forward. "I highly doubt it."

Technically, they should have been sitting up at the table with the others, but there weren't enough seating to hold all of them. It wasn't that bad since Jaiden wanted to be as far away from her grandfather as possible.

Eventually, the bailiff had everyone rise as the judge walked out from a back room. The judge walked over to step up to his podium, taking a seat before the bailiff gave the say for the rest to be seated.

The judge pulled out an eyeglass case from underneath his robe and pulled out a pair of thin frames glasses, setting them on his face. Being the plaintiff, Howard's lawyer was able to speak first.

"Your Honor, my client, Mr. Howard Reese, has been wrongfully accused of sexual abuse towards both his daughter and his granddaughter," he explained, while glancing down at his paperwork. "As a result, he's been withheld from being able to visit her. It was decided at the previous meeting that Mr. Reese would receive custody and the goal was to prepare for the reunification process by having visitations until the child's next foster care hearing. But those visitations were suddenly snatched away from my client and forced to submit to a DNA test where they feel the child could possibly be more than just his grandchild. Supposedly, this is all because the case manager of the child gave unauthorized permission for the foster mother to speak with the mother, who was residing at New Haven psychiatric hospital, who has a medical history of depression and compulsive lying…" The man was interrupted by the door at the back of the room opening.

Everyone's heads turned just as Jaiden's temporary foster parents, Stephen and Mallory entered the room.

"Can we help you?" the judge asked, not at all pleased there was an interruption.

The couple moved further down the middle aisle. "We apologize for being late," Stephen was the one to speak as polite and apologetic as possible. "There was traffic on the way here."

Celia explainned they were there as their case witness, by her invitation. The judge allowed them to sit before continuing on with the trial. Stephen and Mallory took a seat in the bench behind where Luke, Lorelai, and Jaiden were sitting. Lorelai looked back to smile and wave which they returned. She had forgotten Celia had mentioned Stephen and Mallory would be a part of this. Stephen had been to every single visit between Jaiden and her grandfather and was quite observant enough to be a witness for this trial and say his peace if the judge allows.

As the trial resumed, the couple also waved hello when Jaiden looked back in their direction. Jaiden shyly returned the wave.

Howard's lawyer was able to continue. "All Mr. Reese wants is the custody of his granddaughter and for an apology for all the damages all of Child Protective Services has caused his family." That whole thing was fusrating to listening to for both Lorelai and Luke.

The judge turned his head to look over at Jerry and Celia's table to hear from their lawyer. His hands were folded on top of the folder he had opened with his copy of the case as the judge gave permission to speak.

"Your honor," Jerry and Celia's lawyer began, "Miss Jaiden Reese has been in foster care since August sixteenth, 2005, and in these last four years, the whereabouts of Mr. Howard Reese have been unknown and no relative, including Mr. Reece, has made himself known up until just a couple months ago. Regardless, family is very important when it comes to the best interest of the child, and so Celia Evans willingly agreed to give Mr. Reese a fighting chance and go through with the custody process and was willing to work with him if everything seemed clear, even though the case was already in play for consideration of adoption with Mr. and Mrs. Danes. But because of Miss Reese's behavior and reaction at the mention of the grandfather, Mrs. Evans and Mr. Jerry MaGuire remained on high alert. Mrs. Evans does admit to giving permission for the foster mother, Mrs. Lorelai Danes, to go and visit the mother, Katherine Reese, because she personally felt for Mrs. Danes and her husband, who had worked so hard for the progress they managed to make like none have ever accomplished with the child."

"So, Mrs. Evans granted access for Mrs. Danes to speak with the mother while Miss Reese was moved to a different foster home to help prepare for the reunification with Mr. Reese, under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Garrison until Miss Reese was moved to a therapeutic group home. The visits with Mr. Reese began while living with the Garrisons, and Mr. Stephen Garrison had shared with Mrs. Evans on several occasions, he felt Miss Reese did not want to be there and was being controlled by fear whenever she was forced to respond. In fact, whenever the two returned home from a visit, Miss Reese would retreat to her room and would only allow the couple's cat to come into the room where she would hold it and cry herself to sleep."

Lorelai was staring at her lap as she listened to the lawyer at having to hear the kid had cried herself to sleep. She looked over at Jaiden with a sympathetic look and reached over to rub a gentle hand on the kid's knee. Jaiden flinched out of habit, but relaxed when she saw who it was. Her flinching had also gotten Luke's attention, who smiled when he saw the kid was okay.

"Since being out of the Danes' care, Miss Reese's behavior escalated and eventually closed herself off from the rest of the world, even to the point of not eating. Once Miss Katherine Reese confessed Mr. Reese had sexually abused her since early childhood and into adulthood, and of fathering her own child, Child Protective Services had no choice but to withhold visitation and request a DNA test to confirm the confession. The test was then done, taking a swab from all three of the Reeses which did show Mr. Reese was indeed the father of his grandchild."

"Objection," Howard's lawyer called out, interrupting Celia and Jerry's lawyer. "Of course a DNA test is going to show a relation to my client. He _is_ her grandfather, after all. That does not prove my client fathered his own grandchild."

"Overruled," the judge said. "A test can specifically show if a grandfather is actually a child's father. With how much technology is improving these days, a person's DNA structure can even show if incest was involved if both parents were related to each other. However, I will issue another paternity test between Mr. Reese and the child, be done to rule out if the first was actually rigged as Mr. Reese feels. I find it hard to believe Child Services would rig a Paternity thest, but I will humor you, Mr. Reese." He stared over at Howard above his glasses that had slipped down his thin nose. The judge picked up his gravel to call a twenty-four hour recess to reconvene the following day.

Lorelai couldn't help let out a groan the trial was being prolonged even further. Holding onto Jaiden so he could stand to his feet, Luke then shifted the kid to his side. Lorelai stood up with him.

"So, now what?" Lorelai couldn't help ask of Norman.

"Well, this court office should have its own lab they use, then once the results are in, we can go from there," he explained.

"How long will that take?" Luke asked that time.

He shrugged. "Anywhere from a day to a few weeks."

The two stared at the older man.

"A few weeks?" Lorelai was the one to blurt out.

"Well, judging by how long a recess the judge gave, it's safe to assume their lab doesn't usually take that long." The assumption made both Luke and Lorelai sigh in relief. "You shouldn't really have anything to worry about, especially since the judge doesn't seem to buy it."

Luke shrugged. "Then why do this?"

"Because it's mandatory to give both parties a fair chance."

Howard walked by, stopping at their row. Luke overheard his lawyer advise not to say another word as not to add further problems.

Everyone else had to be hurried along for the next case.

As soon as Luke and Lorelai came out, Rory, April, Liz, and TJ rushed over like hungry pups eager for food while Richard and Emily followed behind them.

"Well? How did it go in there?" Rory asked first.

"Did Jaiden have to testify?" April asked next.

"Is that awful man going to jail?" Liz asked.

"Unfortunately, we have to go on a recess and have to come back tomorrow," Lorelai was the one to explain. "The judge has to issue another paternity test to help prove that the first one was not rigged."

"How can a paternity test be rigged?" Richard questioned as if that was the most absurd thing he had heard of.

"Honestly, it is possible," Norman had to confess.

"Really?" Rory asked.

"Actually, yeah, there can be complications," said April. "According to my uncle, tests can go wrong because of human error, like being misread or mixed up. There can be a mutation in the DNA structure, or it could be because of chimerism, which is when a person has two different sets of DNA."

"How would Jaiden has two different sets of DNA?" Luke questioned.

"Jaiden would have to have been part of two completely separate eggs in her mother's womb that fused together into one single egg. So, she would basically be two people in one body, so to speak," she explained. "Or, it's possible that her grandfather could also be a chimera, and that could also mess with the paternity test. However, chimerism is thought to be the rarest of the reasons a test could go wrong. In fact, the mutation in the DNA would most likely be a more common factor because of the age of Jaiden's grandfather. The older the father is, the more likely there could a change in his DNA."

Luke rolled his head backwards. "Great, so there's a chance we may not even know if he is indeed her grandfather."

Celia spoke up at that point. "Hold on, Luke. The test did come back positive. According to the test we issued, Howard is Jaiden's father, whether he would care to admit it or not. So those factors would only be an issue had the test came back negative, I would assume."

"Jeez, April. Don't scare a person like that," Luke scolded, though he was only partly serious.

"Sorry," she replied, apologetically.

"I did warn ahead of time this would be possible," Norman reminded Luke and Lorelai.

Lorelai assured him, "We know, Norman. I kind of was hoping the judge would see how cute Jaiden was and favor us, I guess." She gave Jaiden a smile. "Huh, sweetheart?"

Jaiden just gave a quick one shoulder shrug.

So, they had to make a stop at the lab the court house used in times where a DNA or paternity test was needed. Celia was the one to ask for directions and let Luke and Lorelai know where to go, meeting her there.

Before the group left, Stephen and Mallory wanted to say hello, especially to Jaiden. Mallory kneeled to the kid's level to ask for a hug, letting her know how much they had missed her. There was some hesitance at first but Jaiden timidly made her way over and hugged the young woman, apologizing for being mean when she was staying with them. Mallory assured Jaiden did not have to apologize.

"How is Sagan doing?" Jaiden also asked them.

"He's doing good," Mallory replied which Stephen added, "he misses you," with a kind smile. "Maybe one of these days, you can come visit."

"That's a good idea," agreed Lorelai. "Right, sweetheart?"

Jaiden nodded at them.

Stephen and Mallory walked out with them, who had parked on the other side of the parking lot from where Liz had parked the van. Once everyone was in the van, Rory pointed out about her mom being right on the guy's height being taller than Dean.

At the lab, Lorelai couldn't help ask, curiously, "Will it be a swab of her cheek again?" She was a little squeamish when it came to blood or needles. And Luke wasn't any better.

Looking up from the paperwork she was filling out, Celia answered, "Jerry wants to make sure that we get full accurate results. So, to make sure that happens, we're opting for both a cheek swab and a blood sample."

Lorelai looked over to ask Luke who would be going into one of the back rooms with Jaiden when she noticed he looked like a deer caught in headlights. "You alright there, Luke? You need some water?" His face did look a bit flushed.

"I do," Jaiden was the one to respond, softly.

Lorelai offered to get some for her, bringing Luke back a cup from the water cooler, as well. Jaiden thanked her when she took the cup, drinking it down. Luke also thanked Lorelai for the water, taking his. The other four, Lorelai had sent off to grab a bite to eat so they didn't all have to wait in the lab's waiting room. Though, there wasn't that many people also waiting to be seen. Of course, Howard had to be there, keeping Jaiden attached to Luke.

For the most part, Howard paced around the waiting room, reading the numerous posters and notes on the walls. Every time he would pace in front of them, Jaiden would tense up tighter and cling onto Luke's shirt as she buried her face into his chest.

Finally, after the sixth time, Luke asked the guy, politely, "You mind not coming over here?"

Howard shrugged. "It's a free country," he replied and just continued pacing around the room.

Leaning over to whisper to Lorelai, Luke gritted his teeth. "I swear…"

Lorelai reached over to pat him on the leg. "Don't worry. Soon, this will all be over and we won't ever have to deal with him again," she whispered back to him.

He sighed, "If I make it that long." When Howard paced by once again, Luke asked her, "are you sure I can't trip him? I mean, all I have to do is stretch my legs out. Nobody would think it wasn't an accident."

"Luke, you cannot trip him. Just think about something else. Read a magazine or something. Play some kind of game with Jaiden."

"They don't have any games. This place doesn't even have any toys."

"Um, it's called using your imagination," she pointed out.

Luke shifted in his seat, holding onto Jaiden in the process. "How ya doing, Tiger?" Jaiden refused to lift her head from his chest. Both arms were tightly wrapped around Stanley and her knees were folded up towards her stomach. He could feel her body tembling wit fear. To help the kid relax, Luke decided to sing to her while rubbing a gentle hand along her side while the women chatted.

Eventually, they were called back. Jaiden of course wanted Luke to come with her so he had to put on a brave face for her. Honestly, needles wasn't so bad especially since he wasn't the one getting it done.

The lab technician started with the cheek swab first. Per request, they were in separate rooms from Howard.

Luke kept Jaiden on his lap, encouraging her to let the woman scrape the inside of her cheek, having more luck than they had the first time. That was the easy part. The drawing of the blood, however, was another story.

The young woman was friendly and patient at least, introducing herself as Casey.

Luke helped roll up Jaiden's sleeve. Then Casey had to poke around her upper arm, including the inside of Jaiden's elbow to try and find the best vein she could collect the right amount of blood needed. Once the vein was located, Casey tied the rubber band tightly around her arm and wiped the area she would be drawing blood with an alcohol pad. The whole time, Jaiden's anxiety was rising as her chest heaved faster, holding her right arm on the chair's wide table arm.

"You gotta relax, sweetie," Casey told the little girl, gently.

Luke offered Jaiden to squeeze his hand he held around her waist when Casey had the needle and tubes ready. He also got ready to tighten his hold on the kid so she couldn't jerk her arm away, quickly remembering the splinter incident involving the peroxide.

The second the needle pricked the skin, Jaiden indeed flinched.

"Just squeeze my hand, Tiger," Luke told her while trying his best to hold the kid still. "Squeeze it as hard as you need to." And squeeze she did. It was unbelievable how much strength the kid had as she cried her eyes out. Luke tried to calm her down by singing to her while trying to hold her, still, especially her arm, all the while, trying to avoid being headbutted.

"Honey, you gotta hold still for me, otherwise I can't do this," Casey said while trying her best not to seriously hurt the kid. The young woman also had to help pin Jaiden's arm.

Luke continued to try and hold Jaiden in place, continually singing to her. It felt like an eternally before Casey was able to pull the needle out, quickly pressing down on the puncture wound, undoing the rubber band. Setting it on the table, she grabbed a roll of stretchable blue medical, self-aderent wrap to hold the cotton ball there.

"Leave that on for about an hour," she told them and started cleaning up, making sure to apologize to Jaiden for having to do that to her.

With her arm now free, Jaiden clutched Stanley in both arms, turning around once more to sit sideways. She then curled back into a ball.

Luke wrapped both arms around his tiger cub. "I'm sorry we had to do that, Tiger. It was necessary to help prove your grandfather's guilty." He asked for some tissues and used them to wipe up Jaiden's tear-stained face. At first, she fought him, rapidly turning her head away from the tissues until Luke assured Jaiden of what it was he was trying to do.

Casey tried offering a grape Tootsie Pop but Jaiden wasn't a candy kind of kid. Having never had a kid who turned down candy, she wasn't sure what else to give. So, instead, when Casey led them back to the front, she told them to hold off for a minute so she could go into her purse. She pulled out a ten dollar bill, telling Jaiden to go buy herself a toy.

Jaiden stared at the money, confused.

"It's okay, sweetie," she assured the kid. "It's all yours to buy anything you want."

Exchanging a look with Luke first, who gave her an encouraging smile, Jaiden timidly reached out to take the money. "Thank you," she thanked the young woman, softly but in a polite manner.

"You're welcome. Tell your dad to take you to Toys'R'Us. That's where all the best toys can be found." Casey flashed a grin to the kid and told them, bye. Jaiden waved before Luke opened the door to the waiting room where Lorelai and Celia were waiting.

"How'd it go?" Celia asked first as the ladies stood up and met them halfway.

Luke let out a quick, tired sigh. "The swab part went well. The blood test, well...that was a struggle. In fact, the lady felt so bad, she gave Jaiden ten dollars and told her to convince me to take her to some toy story. I'm assuming that's what Toys'R'Us is, anyway."

Lorelai stared at her husband. "How do you not know what Toys'R'Us is?" she questioned.

"Maybe because Jaiden's my first 'toy-age' kid," he reminded her.

"Luke, the store came out in '57. It's literally older than you are."

Luke just changed the subject, asking if they could go. They walked out with Celia, where they said good-bye and parted ways to head over to where Liz and TJ's van was parked. This time, TJ was driving, with Liz in the passenger seat. Lorelai insisted she didn't mind sitting in the back with Jaiden, but Luke needed the leg room.

"There's always the middle seat," April pointed out.

But Luke insisted with, "Back," pointing towards the back seat with his thumb. So, April had to climb back there with Lorelai and Jaiden, sitting between them.

On the drive home, Rory passed out the food to everyone so they could have lunch. They made sure to get Jaiden, chicken nuggets, but the place didn't have onion rings. Instead, she had to have French fries. Jaiden didn't seem to mind, though.

"They had milk like you like," Rory passed the small container of milk back to her little sister, who thanked her. Really, they had gotten Jaiden a kid's meal which Rory informed her the toy was in the bag. Looking inside, she pulled out what looked like a Nerf launcher toy sealed in a plastic bag. Jaiden dropped it back in the bag so she could eat her food.

Jaiden patted April on the arm before asking, "Can we watch Barney again?"

While carefully trying to squeeze ketchup on her cheeseburger without spilling anything, April called up to the front, "Aunt Liz, can you put Barney back on? Jaiden wants to watch it again."

"Sure, sweetie." Liz reached up to turn on the TV, much to Luke's dislike. She made sure to smack her brother on the side of the leg when a pained sigh escaped his mouth, a tad bit louder than he intended.

Twisting around, Luke looked behind his seat to ask Jaiden, "Where did you put your money, Tiger?"

Jaiden reached into the pocket of her pants, pulling out the ten dollar bill she had folded two times.

"You want me to hold onto it so you won't lose it?"

She held it out to him, nodding.

Luke reached back to take it, turning forward to pull out his wallet.

"You bribed her with money?" Rory asked curious, eating her own cheeseburger.

"No, the lady that drew her blood tried to offer Jaiden candy that she doesn't like, so she gave Jaiden ten dollars from her purse instead, to go buy a toy from Toys'R'Us."

"Which Luke did not know existed, by the way," Lorelai made sure to include, teasing the poor guy.

Luke just ignored his wife.

Liz and TJ overheard. "Oh, so that means we're headed to Toys'R'Us next?" Liz asked, using the mirror on her sunvisor to look back at them.

"No, you don't have to. We can take her later, this afternoon," Lorelai assured them.

"Nonsense. We don't mind," she waved her hand at her. "Doula's gonna be at her play date all day and we've got nothing better to do."

"I actually haven't been there in forever," Rory said, also not minding on going to a toy store. Since everyone else was also fine with going, they went in search of a Toys'R'Us.

The moment Jaiden stepped foot inside the automatic double doors, her blue-green eyes enlarged and her mother dropped open at the store full of shelves of all kinds of toys. If they didn't know better, the'd guess Luke wasn't the only one unaware there was a place like Toy'R'Us.

"Come on, Jay," TJ called to the kid, looking excited like an overgrown kid.

For the next hour, they let Jaiden lead the way. She had to leave Stanley in the van since it was a toy store. Though, once the kid was in awe, it didn't seem to matter. She just scanned the shelves, looking at all of the toys until finding the one she liked, and was under ten bucks. What caught the most interest was when they reached the Nerf aisle.

Jaiden practically sprinted there once she saw the aisle and looked around at all the toy guns.

"Remember, Tiger. You only have ten dollars to spend," Luke reminded her when he caught up to her. He had to reject all of the really cool big guns before pointing out the ones that was under the kid's limit.

Jaiden ended up picking out a Nerf gun that has an orange trigger to pull out before having to fire the foam darts with a suction cup on the end. Making sure that was the toy she wanted, they had to go in search of where TJ had disappeared off to before heading up to the front to pay for the Nerf gun.

Jaiden wanted to give the teenage cashier her money. With the tax added, Luke had to check in his wallet, giving the guy a five to get change back.

The whole way home, Jaiden was memorized by the new toy. So much so, she was distracted from Barney and Luke could turn the TV off. At home, he took the Nerf gun out of the packaging for her with scissors, letting Jaiden figure out how to stick the darts in and aimed it down the hall. A smile appeared on her face before she hurried over to retrieve it and began pretending to be an action hero from the movies, ducking behind furniture. It was the most active, aside from playing hockey, they've seen from the kid. But most importantly, she was happy, It was rewarding to see her happily playing like a kid should be.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **While doing more research while I was writing this chapter, I realized writing the trial is taking longer than I had originally thought. It'll be finished next chapter for sure. Felt I should point that out because I still want to wait on Luke confronting Lorelai until after the whole trial is over and done. So the next chapter will pick up the next day at the start of the trial. Sorry, it's taking this long, guys! I'll try to have it up sometime this weekend.**


	33. Chapter 33

**REWRITTEN!**

Chapter 33

The trial was around the same time as before. This time, Stephen and Mallory were able to make it there on time, giving themselves a sooner head start so they wouldn't be late again. Liz and TJ also wanted to come again, in support of Jaiden, as well as Richard and Emily.

Same as before, the bailiff had them rise as the judge entered the courtroom and took his seat at his podium before sitting once more. Everyone was pretty much in their same seating positions as the trial picked up where it left off the day before.

"I have looked over the results of the tests taken from both Mr. Reese and from the child," the judge began. "And, I'm sorry to say, the first results Child Services had done were indeed not rigged." He stared at Howard, who was still sitting with his lawyer. "Mr. Reese, you are the father of your granddaughter."

His lawyer advised Howard not to respond. The look on the man's face did show he wasn't pleased to hear the judge announce Howard was the father.

The judge continued. "The odds are not looking good for you, so far, Mr. Reese. If Miss Jaiden testifies you also did the same to her as you did her mother, you will not win this case."

Stealing a look over at the older man, Luke could see Howard looked even more displeased and turned to say something to his lawyer.

Flipping through the case file in front of him, the judge read off what had been reported and what was known. "According to the mother, there was sexual abuse going on but she stated to Mrs. Danes, she never physically seen it happen." He briefly looked up from the case file. "So, we can't just go off from the mother's confession. However, there were statements from both the Danes and the Garrisons of the child having a negative reaction when Mr. Reese was mentioned. Correct?"

Both Lorelai and Stephen responded with a "correct," one at a time.

He turned his attention onto Stephen, having him stand. The bailiff came over to place him under oath to make sure Stephen gave his full honesty.

"Mr. Garrison, you had the most supervision with Mr. Reese and the child."

Stephen gave a nod, "That is correct, sir."

The judge folded his hands on top of his case file. "Can you share with the court your side to what you witnessed during those visits?"

"Yes, I can. Your honor, from what I could see, the relationship between Jaiden and her grandfather has been built solely on control and fear, I can guarantee you, which absolutely no healthy and safe relationship should ever be built on," he explained. "When Celia Evans first dropped Jaiden, off, at our home, she informed us that Jaiden likes to hide, find somewhere where she can isolate herself from others, which is fine. We usually try to keep places like under the beds or at least one closet clean and clear of clutter for that very reason. But when Jaiden tries to slip underneath a table that was in the room, Howard automatically hollered at her to come out, even causing her to hit her head on the table out of fright and did not even ask if she was alright. He just ordered her to come out."

Luke couldn't help tighten his arms around the little girl, kissing the top of her head while Lorelai reached over to gently give her knee a loving squeeze.

"In fact, he was upset with me for stopping Jaiden when her grandfather called her over, because I wanted to make sure she was alright. When we finally sat down, Howard insisted Jaiden sit with him. I told Jaiden she did not have to and could sit anywhere she wanted and where she was comfortable, but again, Howard insisted. So Jaiden went to sit with her grandfather, who then proceeded to place a hand on her shoulder and kept it there for the remainder of the visit, except when he would move to her knee. I could physically see Jaiden tense up from the touch, and I got this sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach, and so I asked if Howard would remove his hand. He then told me, he wasn't doing anything wrong. I ignored him and asked Jaiden if she felt comfortable of her grandfather touching her."

"And what was her response?" the judge asked.

Stephen let out a breath of air. "She nodded her head, your honor. However," he quickly added, "I did see Jaiden glance up at him out of the corner of her eye before answering. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do at the moment. I did inform Celia right after the visit, and every visit after that, I kept a watchful eye on them. I never even left to use the restroom. I felt I could not leave the two of them alone, together. Something in me was shooting up red flags and it killed me to have to keep bringing her, back. We were made aware the previous foster mother, Lorelai Danes, was looking into the matter, so I just hoped something would be dug up before the time came where I or anyone else couldn't be there." As the young man spoke his side, tears were starting to form in his eyes. He managed to hold them back and clear his voice.

The judge then thanked Stephen before he asked, "Aside from you, were there anybody else in the room to supervise the visits?"

"Uh, no, sir," he answered, honestly. "But there were cameras in a couple places of the room."

"So, there was no parent aide. Just you?"

This time, he shook his head. "No, sir."

"The caseworker wasn't at least present?"

"At the beginning, yes, and throughout, but not for the whole visit."

Celia leaned around Jerry to whisper to their lawyer.

"When Mrs. Evans was present in the room, how long would she stay for?"

Stephen hesitated on the question. "Uh… Honestly, I can't really give an estimate. Like I said, I was more concerned for Jaiden's well-being and safety," he shrugged, holding it for a moment.

"Your honor, if I may speak," Celia and Jerry's lawyer asked. "With how busy the office has gotten in the past year, alone, there has been many accounts where my client, Celia Evans, has had to step out to take an important call or to respond to a dire situation that has come up during the visits with the child and the grandfather. She does hurry back as soon she can, and the cameras are able to be checked if there was a reason to do so. Had the foster father not been present, she would most definitely not leave them alone. But because he chose to stay with Jaiden, Mrs. Evans felt safe in assurance to leave the foster father in charge while she stepped out as the Garrisons are one of their best foster parents."

"Well," the judge turned back to Stephen, "Miss Jaiden was lucky to have you as a foster father, Mr. Garrison."

Stephen partly lifted his hands he had on the back of the bench, "My wife and I treat each child as if they were our own. So a child could feel that somebody loves them." He watched Jaiden as Stephen spoke before placing his hands back down, sharing a smile with his wife before turning forward again.

"What I like to hear," the judge nodded at him. He turned back to Celia and Jerry. "I understand things can get pretty hectic, especially in the field of work you both do. However, I ask you work a little harder on supervising visits. Maybe hire more parent aides if you need to, as to make sure children are not left unsupervised for any periods of time?"

Celia tried to respond but stopped herself and instead told him, they will. Lorelai knew they were great on making sure there were well supervised visits as Celia had been to every single visit her and Luke had with Jaiden until becoming her foster parents.

Turning back to Stephen, one last time, the judge thanked him and said he may be seated. This time, the judge switched over to the youngest person in the room, who was still huddled on Luke's lap.

Howard's lawyer spoke up about that point. "Your honor, none of what Mr. Garrison said proves anything, other than a grandfather showing his love and affection towards his granddaughter."

"Be that as it may, there are still other factors to consider, such as the negative responses both foster placements have reported. Not to mention, the fact that he had sexual relations with his own daughter against her will." The judge turned back to Jaiden. "Miss Jaiden Reese, can you please stand?"

Luke couldn't help swallow at a lump that had formed in his throat. Well, this was it. This was what they had hopefully prepared the little girl for. Being gentle as he could, Luke nudged Jaiden to sit up and encouraged her to stand.

"It's alright, sweetheart," Lorelai softly assured her which Luke agreed, rubbing a hand along her side.

Jaiden faced the judge, her chin immediately pinned to her chest.

The bailiff came over to do the same he done with Stephen, asking for Jaiden to place her hand on the bible and raise her right hand. Luke had to lean forward to gently get her attention. With his help, Jaiden managed to timidly raise her head to look up at the bailiff, and did what was asked, nodding her head in response.

"Now, Miss Jaiden," the judge said once the bailiff walked back to his spot, "can you please tell the court if your grandfather has ever hurt you, or did or said anything to make you feel uncomfortable?"

The little girl's gaze moved over to where Howard sat, who was twisted in his seat and staring right at her, watching the little girl with a stern look. Her chin was then pinned right back against her chest once more.

"You got this, sweetheart," Lorelai encouraged. "Just like Schwarzenegger."

Thankfully, the judge noticed what Howard was doing. "Mr. Reese, I ask that you face forward and refrain from looking elsewhere, or you will be asked to step outside until we are finished."

The man did as he was told.

"Go ahead, honey." The judge returned his attention back towards the little girl. When she still did not answer, he said, "I can't do anything unless you speak up and answer the question with your full honesty. I understand this isn't easy but if your grandfather has done anything, it can't be covered up. I won't even force you to speak. A simple nod will do." It was relieving to know the judge was being gentle with Jaiden and was open to not forcing her to speak.

Jaiden looked back over her shoulder, her eyes landing on Lorelai, first, then at Luke. Both of them gave her an encouraging and reassuring smile. Another minute went by before the judge requested everyone else look forward and not at her, allowing only Luke and Lorelai permission.

Squeezing Stanley to her chest, Jaiden turned back to face forward, looking downward. Her chest was starting to heave in and out, repeatedly, as her eyes filled with tears.

Even though it was Jaiden on the stand, Luke couldn't help feel anxious for the kid. His heart was beating faster and harder and guessed her heart was probably doing the same, if not more. Meanwhile, Lorelai kept saying in her head, _come on, sweetheart_ , over and over again. Her hands were folded together in hope, as so was Stephen and Mallory's. Because they couldn't look, the couple kept their heads down, staring at the floor.

Eventually, Jaiden's eyes began to fill up with even more tears, spilling out and down her cheeks.

Luke reached over to rub her arm in reassurance. At first, Jaiden flinched and tensed up, but when she looked back to see it was only him, she relaxed and allowed Luke to continue.

"Deep breath," he told her.

Taking in a few breaths, Jaiden finally looked up at the judge and nodded her head. With an even larger breath, they heard her speak. "P-Papa… P-Papa hurt me…real bad."

"In a private place, honey?" the judge asked her.

Jaiden hesitated before finally nodding her head. "W-with his p-pee-pee."

"Objection, your honor," Howard's lawyer suddenly called out.

"Overruled," the judge said and turned back to the little girl. "Thank you, honey. You may be seated." Jaiden turned back around to grab onto Luke once again. Luke wrapped his arms around her, letting Jaiden know she did great, silently, in her ear.

Turning back to Howard, the judge told him, "Mr. Reese, after looking at the facts and hearing from the witnesses, I am afraid I cannot allow you access to your granddaughter and do not have a case." Switching over to Jerry and Celia, he said, "As I mentioned, work a little better with supervising visits, but I say, continuing adoption for the child would be in her best interest." The judge picked up his hammer to hit against its plank, dismissing the case.

Everyone else packed up to leave, as well. As Lorelai stood up, she spotted Howard arguing with his lawyer. Turning away from them, she focused on Jaiden. Luke had stood up as well, shifting Jaiden onto his side.

"You were awesome, sweetheart," she praised the kid, proudly and reached up to kiss her on the cheek.

Luke rubbed at her side. "Really proud of you, Tiger," he told her as well.

Stephen and Mallory had moved down to stand on the other side from them. Stephen held a hand up for a high five which Jaiden timidly returned.

Celia and Jerry, along with their lawyer, had packed up their paperwork before heading down the aisle, stopping long enough for Jerry to motion them along with a wave of his head. The five of them, including Norman, followed the trio out of the courtroom.

The minute Luke and Lorelai's party saw them come out, they hurried over.

"What happened?" Rory asked first.

"We won," Lorelai told her, happily. "Jaiden kicked butt in there. Didn't ya, Jaiden?" She playfully punched the side of the kid's knee with the side of her fist.

Jaiden was holding her arms around Luke's neck, tightly.

"That's great news!" Liz exclaimed in excitement which her husband agreed.

"It's refreshing whenever a trial ends well," Mallory smiled.

"Yes," Richard agreed with her, "very refreshing indeed."

"But what's going to happen to Mr. Reese?" Emily was the one to ask. "The man's getting time, right?"

Norman shook his head. "It's not that kind of court," he said sadly. "The judge could only deny Mr. Reese access to his granddaughter."

"So, the man is still free?"

"I'm afraid so."

"That's absurd!"

Stephen looked between the group, confused. "Did you all think the judge would send Jaiden's grandfather off to jail?"

"Wasn't this what this whole trial was for?" Richard asked, just as confused.

Norman shook his head. "This was just the grandfather fighting for custody of his granddaughter from CPS. Now, if we want further action, we will have to take this to criminal court to try for him to serve time."

"You can still help us with that, right, Norman?" Lorelai asked.

"Absolutely," he replied.

About that time, Howard and his lawyer came out of the courtroom. The moment Jaiden saw the man, her grip tightened on her foster dad's neck even more, especially when Howard came their way.

The old man glared between the group.

Celia and Jerry, who had been over, talking with their lawyer, came over.

"Mr. Reese, you need to move along," Jerry insisted towards the man.

He continued to glare between the group. "This isn't over," he warned them. His eyes landed on Jaiden, who sunk her head. "You're gonna regret that, young lady. Just wait." With that said, Howard turned and stormed off without another word. TJ of course tried saying something to him which Jerry blocked the guy's path, telling TJ to let it go, even when he tried pointing out Jaiden was family.

Jaiden buried her face into Luke's neck. He could now feel her small form starting to tense up once again as she shook with fright. When Howard had directed the last threat towards her, it had scared her so much, Jaiden had wet herself which he informed Lorelai of.

"Can he do that? Make threats like that?" Liz asked.

Norman shrugged a shoulder. "He can say whatever he wants. Freedom of speech."

"Yeah, but you can't do that to a kid," she continued, trying to stick up for Jaiden.

"Morally, no you shouldn't. Legally, yes you can."

"Well, if there's anything we can still do to help bring that horrible man to justice, let us know," Mallory spoke up.

Lorelai thanked her.

"The more help, the better," said Norman.

Lorelai tried to offer to take Jaiden to the restroom, to change her clothes. But Jaiden refused to let go of Luke. Rory tried offering to take her, too, but not even she was able to have any luck. Jaiden clung to Luke as tight as possible.

Outside, while trying to persuade Jaiden into the van, Stephen and Mallory came over, holding a craft store plastic shopping bag. Mallory explained she had gotten Jaiden another sketch book and real artist colored pencils. Not the Crayola or RoseArt brand but actual artist pencils, along with a pack of drawing pencils. Having known there could've been a chance Jaiden would have to testify, Mallory had wanted to give her a special present for her bravery. However, since Jaiden was catatonic at the moment, Lorelai had to take the bag of stuff from her, thanking Mallory for the kid.

Telling them to keep in touch, the couple said good-bye as they headed back to their car.

After several minutes of trying to reassure Jaiden, she was safe, Luke ended up getting in the back with Rory, this time. He set Jaiden on the seat on his other side and had to pry her hands from around his neck, forcibly, while reassuring Jaiden, he was right there with her. Luke reached up to pull down the seat belt, pulling it out to stretch across her front and fastened it for the kid. As soon as he was finished, Jaiden grabbed onto his arm and had to fasten his seat belt with one hand.

April had moved up to one of the middle seats when Luke asked one of the other girls to move and once he had gotten back there, Lorelai sat in the other middle seat, pulling the door closed. On the way home, the windows had to be rolled down when the smell of pee grew too strong.

Liz tried putting Barney on but not even the purple dinosaur could help Jaiden relax, who buried her face into Luke's side. Before they had left, Celia said she would call and check in, Friday morning.

The whole drive home, Luke spent the time, singing to Jaiden and reassuring she was safe.

"We love ya, Tiger," he said, using his free hand to rub along her upper arm. "You're safe, I promise."

Everyone did, leaning towards the little girl in their seats. That is, except for TJ, who was driving. But even he would offer an encouraging word.

April was twisted around in her seat to look behind it. "You're our baby sis, Jaiden," she said. "And always will be, no matter what."

Rory agreed. "We'll always look out for you and will kick anybody's butt if they came near you." She smiled around Luke.

The kid continued to cling to Luke the whole way home. Luke had to carry her out of the van where Liz requested to say something.

Touching a gentle hand to her back, Liz told the little girl, "We all got your back, sweetie. Nobody's gonna hurt ya. Not on our watch." She then reached up to hold a kiss to Jaiden's right temple. "Love ya, Jay." Afterwards, she got back into the front seat just as TJ yelled he would pick up another comic book for Jaiden.

Once Liz and TJ had left, Luke followed the girls inside the house where he tried to set her down. The kid had to shower and change, not to mention, him too. It took an hour but Lorelai came up with the plan to have Paul Anka in the bathroom with Jaiden while she showered, allowing Luke enough time to also shower and change. But once that was taken care of and Luke returned in her sights, Jaiden was like a magnet.

Somebody had to go into work so Luke thought it was logical that Lorelai went. April and Rory volunteered to help fill in at the diner for him which he thanked them for. After they left, Luke turned on the TV, hoping _Diego_ would be on. Thankfully, Lorelai had begun DVRing episodes so Jaiden could watch them any time. So Luke went into their recorded shows and played the first episode. He tried to offer to fix something for lunch but the kid wasn't hungry. While he made himself a sandwich, Jaiden followed as close behind as possible as if she were his shadow. Luke tried to offer some of his sandwich but Jaiden just did not want to eat.

The two ended up marathoning _Diego_ for the entire afternoon.

Lorelai and the girls came home later that night with chinese food and ice cream, along with a few movies they thought Jaiden would like, including one of Lorelai and Rory's favorites they couldn't believe they hadn't shared with the newest member of the family, yet: _Pippi Longstocking_.

Remembering what she had liked the last time, Luke put a little bit of each on a plate and tried to insist on Jaiden eating this time.

"Come on, Tiger. You haven't eaten since this morning, sweetie. You need to eat something. Please?" he pleaded with her. "For me?"

"Not hungry," she finally spoke, shaking her head.

"Sweetie, you haven't eaten since breakfast." Luke couldn't help watch the little girl with pleading eyes.

Lorelai brought drinks in for everyone, including a glass of strawberry milk for Jaiden, having Rory and April grab theirs before setting Jaiden's on the coffee table. Kneeling in front of where Jaiden was sitting on the couch, she touched a gentle hand to the side of her leg. "You can't just not eat, sweetheart. It's not good for you. We made sure to get everything you like."

But Jaiden continued to shake her head, still clinging to Luke's side. In the end, they ended up having to give up for now. Luke set her plate down beside her strawberry milk. He tried offering the drink, to at least get something in her stomach but the kid even rejected her favorite beverage. Instead, Lorelai just started up _Pippi_ as the rest of the family ate. Jaiden at least watched the movie.

Throughout the evening, Luke tried a few more times even if it was a few bites, stabbing a piece of teriyaki chicken onto the fork to offer towards her. A few bites was better than nothing at all. By the end of the night, Lorelai ended up having to wrap Jaiden's untouched plate with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge with the rest of the leftovers.

When it was time for bed, Jaiden wouldn't even let Luke leave her when he said good night. It was a longshot but Luke decided to offer if she wanted to sleep in his and Lorelai's bed since the two had already fallen asleep together in her bed, once. To his surprise, the answer was a definite yes without any hesitation. He at least let Jaiden go on her own power, letting her climb into bed where Lorelai was already getting into.

Lorelai was surprised to hear Jaiden was willing to sleep in their bed with Luke there. She hadn't shared a bed with a kid since Rory was little, though and was happy to share with a kid again. There was still some hesitation once Jaiden was standing there. But with some encouragement, the kid slowly climbed onto the foot of the bed, crawling over where Lorelai patted beside her.

Luke brushed his teeth first while Lorelai helped Jaiden get situated, making sure she had a pillow of her own. It was apparent the kid was still nervous but was still willing to try.

"If any time during the night, you wake up hungry, just wake one of us up," she was assuring Jaiden when Luke finally emerged out of the bathroom, heading over to his side.

Once he was under the comforter, Luke asked, "you okay, Tiger?" as he leaned back on his left elbow.

She gave him a timid nod, looking up at him from where Jaiden was laying on her back.

Reaching towards their lamps, Luke and Lorelai turned them off before kissing each other, good night and laid down on their pillows. They switched onto their sides, facing Jaiden, to wrap their arms around the little girl and kissed her, good night, on each side of her head. Luke softly sang to her one last time.

"We love ya, kiddo," Lorelai told her, afterwards. "No matter what, we're always gonna be here to see you through these hard times. Okay? We're gonna do all we can to find a way to make him pay for what he did to you." She brushed some blond hair out of the kid's face as they were eye level with each other. They felt the bed move as Paul Anka jumped up onto the foot of the bed, twirling around before lying down. Lorelai smiled at the dog and turned back to Jaiden. "Looks like so will Paul Anka," giggling to help the kid feel better.

She could see the kid staring back at her even in the dark. "I love you too, Mommy." Jaiden then turned her head to look over at Luke. "And you too, Daddy."

Luke smiled at that. He reached his head over to kiss her forehead. "Nobody's hurting my little tiger cub," he promised, touching his forehead to hers.

Soon, the three of them closed their eyes to fall asleep. Eventually, Jaiden felt comfortable enough to scoot closer towards Luke, snuggling with him as she clutched Stanley in her arms. The whole night, Luke kept a protective but loving arm around the kid.

Both of them were awakened, hours later to the sound of Jaiden whimpering in her sleep. Luke soothed her by singing softly to her until Jaiden was able to settle down without escalating further, and everyone was able to sleep through the rest of the night.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **A Thank you towards the guest reviewer for the tip. Though, I went back and checked my research, according to Connecticut's laws, Jaiden is able to testify for herself. So I kept that part the way it was. I didn't know there were different judges that had certain power so I didn't think to research anything about that and assumed the judge could give Howard time. So that means we are still not through with Howard just yet. Sorry, guys. I hate disappointing people but it has to be done. I'm probably gonna do further research and might even ask my pastor, who is a former lawyer, about how to go about this. Again, sorry to disappoint but hopefully this sudden change will make the story even more interesting to read.**


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Luke's alarm went off at its usual time the next morning. Reaching over without opening his eyes, he smacked it to shut it off before rubbing his hands along his face. Luke felt somebody move beside him. His first thought was Paul Anka, who sometimes likes to move in between them during the night, despite his protests, but then he suddenly remembered Jaiden had chosen to sleep in their bed.

Since it was summer, there was enough light to see clearly this early in the morning. He looked over to see her lying on her side, curled in a ball as she held her dog to her chest, rubbing at her eye. Her gaze met his.

"Morning," he softly told her. "Sleep okay?"

Jaiden nodded her head.

"I have to go into the diner this morning for this week's supply order."

She chewed on her lip. "Can I come?" she timidly asked.

He ran his fingers through her hair, repeatedly. "Sure, if you want. If you want also, you can help restock the napkins and the salt and pepper shakers. Make some spending money."

"I get money from Celia," she pointed out, still timidly.

"For clothes, yes. But I'm talking about to spend on whatever you want," he explained to her. "How about it?"

Jaiden looked away as if to ponder on the offer.

"My dad taught me about working hard for the things we want and need. I was about your age when I started working in his store, sweeping the floors. Then as I got older, he gave me more jobs to do."

"What happened to your dad?" she asked.

Luke grew silent for a moment.

Jaiden must have caught on because she apologized.

"No need to apologize, Tiger," Luke assured. "He, uh, got very sick where I had to take over the store for him up until he died sometime later."

She gave him a sorrowful expression before wrapping an arm across him.

Luke touched his hand to hers. He then gently clutched it, lifting his head to kiss it. "Thanks, Tiger."

Jaiden gave him half a smile.

"Hey," he then changed the subject. Looking at him, Luke asked, "you think you might try and eat today?" Her eyes darted away, unable to meet his gaze this time. He still held onto her hand, rubbing the back with his thumb, comfortingly. "I don't ever want to force you to eat if you're not hungry, sweetie. But you never ate lunch or dinner, yesterday. I don't want you getting sick."

"Because then you have to take time out of your day to take care of me." The statement came out of nowhere, unexpectedly. It sounded as if Jaiden thought she would be a burden on them, like someone had told her, she would be a burden.

"That's not it, sweetie," he assured her. "We would be glad to take care of you if you were to get sick. But we wouldn't want you to get sick, though. Not eating can lead to something serious and we could even lose you. Our bodies needs food for nutrients to survive." Luke then went on to give Jaiden a lesson in the importance of eating right. Katherine may have limited and gotten her used to eating small portions and eating healthy foods, she never taught her daughter what would happen if she didn't eat at all. In fact, Jaiden pointed out she remembered her mom skipping a meal or two, now and then. "Yeah, that's not good, Tiger. Even if you can't sit down and eat a whole meal, you should at least have a piece of fruit. I wouldn't want anything to happen to ya." Luke touched his forehead to hers.

He moved back and asked, "So, how about it? Can you eat something for me? Even if it's just a piece of fruit? I'd feel better if you had something in your system."

To his relief, Jaiden nodded her head.

"Atta girl." Luke kissed the side of her forehead. "Don't let that grandfather of yours get to ya, Tiger. Bullies like him want to feel powerful over everyone else when really, they're just scared cowards themselves."

She nodded up to him once more.

"Come on," he motioned with his head. "If you're gonna come with me, we gotta leave in the next fifteen minutes. I can fix ya something at the diner."

The two carefully got out of bed without waking Lorelai. Paul Anka followed after the little girl to her bedroom to watch over his human pup while Luke got dressed in the closet. Jaiden returned with her toothbrush and toothpaste, wanting to brush with him.

While Jaiden was brushing, she abruptly stopped to stick her fingers in her mouth and quickly tapped his leg.

"What is it, Tiger?"

Spitting into Lorelai's sink first, she opened her mouth towards him and wiggled one of her teeth. Luke spit into his sink, rinsing a couple times before kneeling to her level to get a better look, gently pressing underneath her mouth to push her lower lip out of the way. The tooth behind her lower left incisor had become loose.

"Looks like you're losing a baby tooth," he told her, letting go.

"Is that bad?" she asked, worried.

Luke shook his head. "No, it just means a grown up tooth is ready to come in and take its place." He was surprised to hear Jaiden wasn't aware that was a normal part of being a kid. "Is this your first?"

She shook her head. "I first lost a tooth when I was six. I think this is number five or six."

"Well, leave it alone so it can fall out on it's own." Luke rose back up.

"It always falls out when I'm eating."

"Yeah, usually that's how they go. I remember munching on a pear as a kid and a tooth got stuck." He chuckled. "Dad had to cut the tooth out with a knife."

"I swallowed one once."

Luke smiled. "Yeah?"

Jaiden nodded. "It came back two days later in the…"

Luke stopped her before she could finish that sentence, letting her know he understood what she meant. He did not need the details how it resurfaced. Instead, he cut a piece of floss for the both of them.

Jaiden hurried back to her room to put her shoes on which Paul Anka followed closely behind. She tried asking if he could come too, but Luke told her there were no dogs allowed in the diner as a sanitation rule. If a health inspector was to stop by and see a dog hanging out and wasn't a service dog, the diner would be in deep trouble. Jaiden was disappointed but Luke assured he would be there and that perked her up a little. Plus, she could bring Stanley. Stuffed dogs were allowed.

Now ready to tackle the day, the two headed out to his truck. Jaiden climbed in on his side, scooting over to the other side of the bench. The streets were still empty for the most part as Luke headed for the diner, a country station playing on the radio. It made him smile when he heard Jaiden singing along in between bites of her banana. There was no secret talent there but it was still cute the kid liked to sing along. He couldn't help notice her cheeks turn red when she sang along to a Rodney Atkins song called, _Watching You_ as Jaiden sang the words. Her eyes kept stealing a look at him from the corner of her eye.

A warm, fuzzy feeling filled up inside of the guy at the possibility of Jaiden wanting to look up to him. It was new and strange. All his life, Luke had always looked up to his own father. He never thought someone would be willingly looking up to him, especially since he had the reputation of being the town's grumpy diner owner, and neither his nephew nor his oldest daughter seemed to take a close interest in him and thought he was pretty lame as kids normally did. But to think Jaiden was showing interest, the thought made him smile with proudness. There was actually a kid who didn't think he was a lame, old guy.

The drive was short before pulling up to the curb near the diner and Luke parked, making sure his side was in the street. Jaiden got out on the side with the sidewalk, climbing out on her own, sitting on the floor of the truck to slide out. He shut her door for her, to make sure it shut properly before they headed inside. Jaiden made sure to stick as close to Luke as possible, linking her hand inside his.

Inside, Luke set all the chairs down and had Jaiden help him set out everything on each table, showing her how to refill the containers that needed it while he started the first pots of coffee of the day for both the caffeine and decaf customers. He had to let Jaiden come in the back with him and let her help unload the morning's order onto the shelves, making sure to tell her to be careful and kept a watchful eye on the kid to make sure nothing fell on top of the kid.

Once the diner was ready to be opened, Luke fixed them some oatmeal, sitting at one of the tables to eat.

"Thanks for being my little helper this morning," Luke made sure to tell her, proudly. "You did a very good job."

The praise made Jaiden smile. "You're welcome," she replied.

They continued eating until Jaiden timidly patted his arm.

"Um, can I ask something?"

"Sure," he assured her.

"Are we still gonna talk?" she asked.

Luke swallowed the bite of oatmeal he just took. "What do you mean?"

"At the court place. You said we were gonna talk later. Are we?"

It started coming back to him what Jaiden was referring to. "Oh, that," he nodded, remembering what he had told her. "Yes. Yes, we are. But not right now. I have to talk with your mom first, but yes, the three of us will sit down and discuss what was said from both me and your mom. Okay?"

She gave him a nod.

Luke opened once they were finished eating which Jaiden spent most of the morning, hiding in the same space she had found underneath the counter. During the mid morning lull, she came out when Luke asked if she wanted to help clean up from the morning's breakfast rush. Jaiden held the dust pan for Caesar when he asked while he was sweeping the floors.

Lorelai met the older girls there for lunch. "Hey, where's Jaiden?" she asked after reaching over the counter to kiss Luke.

He motioned his head towards the kid's hiding spot.

Coming around, Lorelai ducked her head. "Hey, sweetheart," she greeted cheerfully.

Jaiden shot out from her space and wrapped her arms around her legs. She then motioned her hand for Lorelai to move closer. Kneeling to the kid's level, Jaiden opened her mouth to show her, her loose tooth.

Lorelai gasped happily. "You got a loose tooth?" she asked.

The little girl nodded excitedly.

"You know what that means, don't cha?"

Jaiden shook her head.

"That means the tooth fairy will be paying us a visit soon once it falls out."

Jaiden shook her head once more.

"Why don't you think the tooth fairy won't come, sweetheart?"

"She never came before. I put my other teeth under my pillow like I'm supposed to but she never came. She only came for the other kids." Jaiden looked close to tears.

"Did you tell anybody?" Lorelai asked.

She shook her head.

"That's why. Us, grown ups, has to know because then we can give the tooth fairy permission to come inside our house. Otherwise, she can't get in. It's just like Santa Claus. He can't just come down the chimney. That's why we leave him milk and cookies, to show him, Santa can come inside." Lorelai was basically making this up as she went along to try and keep the kid's belief in things like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy alive for her. In fact, Lorelai could not wait for Christmas that year. The holiday was always so fun when Rory was growing up. Now that they had Jaiden, she had another chance to relive those happy times. Not to mention, share her love for snow with Jaiden. The end of the year could not come any sooner!

"So, does that mean the tooth fairy will finally be able to give me all the money for my other ones and this one?" She pointed to her loose tooth.

Lorelai smiled at her. "You bet," she replied, making Jaiden smile. "Every cent will be counted for."

"I think this is number five or six," she tried to remember like that morning.

"Got it," Lorelai nodded and wrapped the kid in a big hug, holding her head against Jaiden's. "Have you eaten today?" she asked, hopeful which Jaiden nodded. "That's good to hear." Lorelai roughly but gently rubbed along the kid's side. "How about lunch? Did you eat lunch yet?"

"Not yet," she shook her head.

"Are you hungry?"

Like it was with Luke, it was also a relief when Jaiden said she would eat lunch and sat with her, along with April and Rory. Jaiden gave both of her sisters a hug, happy to see them, too and showed them her loose tooth. Both of them were happy for the little girl.

While they ate, Jaiden tapped Lorelai on the arm.

"Yes, sweetheart?" she acknowledged the kid.

She hesitated before Jaiden asked, "When will we see Grandma and Grandpa again?"

"Um, probably when we go to dinner next month. Why do you ask, sweetheart?"

Jaiden squeezed her dog in her arms. Timidly, she replied, "Just asking. I think I like Grandma."

Lorelai flinched in surprise. "Y-you like my mother?" She could barely get the words out. Don't get her wrong, Lorelai was glad to hear Jaiden was starting to like her adopted grandparents. She just wasn't expecting it so soon.

She nodded. "Nobody talked to Papa like that, before."

"Yeah, Grandma can be pretty tough sometimes," Rory nodded sitting on Jaiden's other side and smiled for her. "What about Grandpa? You like Grandpa?"

Jaiden gave a quick shrug. Of course it would make sense she would start warming up to Emily first before Richard, considering she wasn't sure around men.

"Grandpa's a very nice man. I'm sure you'll come to like him, too," she assured her little sister.

Jaiden gave a small smile at that.

After lunch, Lorelai offered to let Jaiden come to the inn with her since she hasn't really seen where Lorelai worked yet. At least, not the whole place. Every time Jaiden came with her, she wanted to only hang out in her office. But Jaiden wanted to stay at the diner instead. Liz and TJ, along with Doula, stopped by that afternoon. TJ brought Jaiden another comic like he promised while Liz asked if she was still up for their adventure on Sunday. The kid looked unsure.

"It's okay if you don't feel up to it, sweetie," Liz assured her. "I was looking forward to spending some time with my little niece, but I don't want to make you go."

Luke watched the kid struggle. This was the second time they would have to cancel on their plans and knew this meant a lot to his sister. Finally, he suggested, "How about for the first riding lesson, I would come with you? That way, Jaiden can get to know you and spend time with you, and I'll be there to hang back and watch."

"Sure, if you think that'll help. But I thought you were going to spend time with Doula while Jay and I went on our outing?"

"We haven't planned anything yet," he shrugged.

"Yes, but to Doula, it was probably implied whenever I took Jay, you would take her."

She had him cornered there. It was hard saying no to his little princess. Either way, they would probably have to cancel. If Jaiden didn't want to go with Liz, she may not want him to leave either.

To his surprise, though, Jaiden spoke up. "No," she shook her head and nodded up at Liz.

"You still want to come with me, sweetie?"

Jaiden continued nodding.

"Are you sure?"

Again, she nodded.

Liz wrapped her arms around the kid. "Don't you worry, Jay. I'll kick anybody's butts if they tried to come near you." The woman smiled at her.

"I ge' U'co Lu'?" Doula asked.

Luke lifted his niece into his arms. "You bet, Princess." He then kissed the little girl on her cheek. Jaiden didn't seem so sure about it, but it seemed like she was forcing a smile for them.

Meanwhile, Lorelai had returned to the Dragonfly for the afternoon and was helping at the front desk when her cellphone rang. Taking it out of her pocket, she saw it was Celia calling.

"Hey," she greeted once Lorelai answered.

"Hello, Lorelai. Sorry I didn't call this morning. One of my other kids had to be moved from a group home to a foster home, and was there all morning working on the paperwork."

A couple of guests entered through the front door while Celia was talking. Lorelai waved them over. "That's not a problem. Just hold on one sec," taking the phone away from her mouth, she greeted the guests and asked for their names to check on their reservation.

About that point, Michel returned and was able to take over for her.

"Okay, I'm back. Sorry about that. Some of our guests had arrived."

"No worries. Is this a bad time? I can call back later," Celia offered.

"No, it's all taken care of now," she assured the caseworker.

"So, how's she doing? Jaiden, I mean?"

"Well, she's doing better than yesterday, it seems like." Lorelai walked away, heading into the other room. "I vaguely heard Jaiden and Luke wake up this morning, and was having a chat about eating right or something like that and thankfully that got her to eat today."

"She wasn't eating yesterday?"

"Not after the hearing, no. She ate breakfast, so she didn't go completely hungry. But Luke couldn't get her to eat lunch. We ordered Chinese for dinner last night, and made sure to get all of her favorites, but Jaiden still did not want to eat. She wouldn't even drink her strawberry milk I made for her," she explained as Lorelai paced around the room across from the front desk. "Jaiden was so terrified she refused to leave Luke's side all day and slept in our bed. Actually, she still won't leave his side. Or at least his view."

"Really?" Celia sounded both surprised and impressed. "Jaiden willingly climbed into bed with you both? She wouldn't even share a bed with another kid, much less an adult."

"Yeah, Luke asked her if she wanted to come sleep in our bed since she wouldn't let him leave when he tucked her in her own bed. So, he took a shot and asked."

"I swear that kid is making so much great progress even while taking steps backwards."

"I just hope we can do something about her grandfather." Lorelai was mostly thinking out loud. "Our lawyer, Norman is looking into having a chat with an old friend of his and will get back to us sometime next week to get started on the next step."

"Oh, okay. Sounds good," she replied. "Just keep us posted. I actually wanted to let you know the plans for next month."

"Plan involving, what?" Lorelai had stopped beside the window.

"Every year, we put on this week long summer camp for all of the kids in our office. We rent a few buses and we go up to this campground we have up there. Jaiden's gone each time since she's been with us. We do a ton of activities from arts and crafts to hiking, and play games. There's even horseback riding, archery, kayaking, and swimming. The kids always have a blast."

"Wait, so does Jaiden have to go?"

"Yes. Unless the kids are sick, or there's something court-ordered that is mandatory they can't miss, all of the kids has to be there. But like I said, we all end up having a great time, and I'll be there. Oh, and actually, Stephen and Mallory always volunteers to be cabin counselors, so if it helps, I can make sure to put Jaiden in Mallory's cabin."

"When is this?" Lorelai hoped this wasn't scheduled around the same time Luke and April would be gone. She had really been looking forward to spending some time with Jaiden, and have some girl time, just the two of them.

"It's the eleventh to the seventeenth," she answered. "So, for about a week we'll be gone."

Lorelai dropped her face into her head. They had dinner at her parents that Friday, and Luke and April were leaving for two weeks the very next day. "And you're sure this is mandatory?"

"I'm sure. Why? Did you guys have plans?" Celia asked.

"Kind of. We have a family dinner the night before and Luke is taking April on their annual father-daughter boat trip they take every summer around that time before she has to go back to her mom's, the same day Jaiden would be leaving," Lorelai explained. "I was planning a fun-filled mother-daughter week between me and Jaiden to do some one-on-one bonding."

"I'm very sorry. This is usually when we start sending out the alert to all of the foster parents and group home staff."

"And you're positive Jaiden can't get out of it?" Lorelai asked once more.

"Very positive. We plan this throughout the year to make sure the kids have something fun to do over the summer. Then, at the end of the summer, we have an all-day event where we feed the kids lunch, and play games, and provide each kid with a new backpack filled with all kinds of school supplies. That's at the end of July, on the thirty-first."

"What if Jaiden gets homesick? Can I drive up there to pick her up? I'd be more than happy to," she offered.

"Jaiden has the option to call you. We have a phone in the main cabin where they can call home if they need to. But unless she's sick like really sick, like the flu, Jaiden has to stay the whole week. But you can write to her. In fact, we encourage the families, including the foster parents and staff to write. Some even send mail the Thursday before so the kids can open mail on their first night."

Lorelai still wasn't fully onboard quite yet. "I'm not really a camping kind of gal. That's all Luke's expertise, but what if I volunteered to be a camp counselor or cabin mother? Would that at all be possible?"

"We already have enough volunteers. I'm sorry, Lorelai."

Lorelai rubbed the side of her hand along her forehead above her eyes.

"I promise Jaiden will be in good hands," Celia tried to reassure her.

"But what about her grandfather? Can't you make an exception for that? I mean, what if he finds her up there?" she pointed out, desperate.

"He can very well find her there with you. More easily, actually," Celia pointed out. "I promise you, though, we have plenty of staff and volunteers helping out, that will make sure we have a safe and fun experience for all of our kids, not just Jaiden. I will be stopping by next week to give you the list of supplies she'll need to bring and what she will not be able to bring, and the address where it'll be so you can pass it along to any other family members, like Liz and TJ, or your parents."

She forced a smile, looking up at nothing in particular. "Okay, sounds good, Celia."

"I should probably go. Was there anything else that I should know of?"

"Um, Jaiden has a loose tooth," Lorelai shrugged.

"Oh, that's wonderful. Usually, I don't hear about a lost tooth from her until after it has fallen out, at her next dentist appointment. I'm glad to hear beforehand this time." The woman chuckled teasingly at that.

Lorelai chuckled right along with her. "Yeah, I told her the tooth fairy owes her for back tooth payment."

"Well, I mean, we can't do anything about it unless we know what's going on."

"Yeah, I told her that, too."

"So, other than the loose tooth and not eating, is there anything else?" she asked.

"Well, we have planned for Liz to take Jaiden on that outing on Sunday, like we had planned before. I'm not sure if that's still going on or not, considering Jaiden took up the job of being Luke's shadow."

"Well, if she does still want to go, it's okay by me."

"Okay. Thanks, Celia." Without nothing else needing to be said, the women ended the call. Lorelai closed her phone, resting it against her forehead. She wasn't sure if Jaiden would be looking forward to this camp next month or not, but Lorelai surely wasn't. At least she would still have another week before Luke and April would be back. She would have liked to have both weeks with the kid, but at least it was just the one week. The experience Lorelai had with camp weren't all that memorable, not in a good way anyway since she wasn't the outdoorsy type. Because of that, she never sent Rory to camp, either, who wasn't much of one, either. Now, this time around, she didn't have a choice.


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35

Since Jaiden still had her food from the night before, they agreed to eat the leftover Chinese for dinner that night, sitting at the table this time as Lorelai filled them in on Jaiden having to go to summer camp next month.

"Well, they just want to make sure these kids have a great time who otherwise wouldn't have the chance to go to camp," Rory tried to look on the bright side, giving a slight shrug.

"Yeah, I get that, and I think that's great. But we had plans," she protested.

"Remember, we were told to expect the unexpected when we signed up for this," Luke reminded her.

Lorelai sighed into the container of the rest of the chow mein noodles she was eating after everyone else had their fill. "I know. It just frustrates me, I'm not gonna have anyone here with me that week."

Rory was the one to point out, "You'll have Paul Anka."

"Yes, but he doesn't talk back. At least not in human language." An idea popped into her head and directed her attention towards the youngest in the room. "Hey, what if you pretended to be sick, sweetheart?"

Rory tilted her head to the side to stare at her mother. "Very nice, Mom," she replied, sarcastically.

"What? It might work."

"Have you considered asking Jaiden what she thinks about going to camp?" April spoke up for Jaiden, stealing a look with the kid.

Rory agreed and looked over to ask Jaiden. "What do you think, Jaiden?"

Jaiden was twirling the chow mein noodles around her fork, repeatedly as she stared at it. Rory reminded her it was okay if she was fine with going even though their mom wasn't. "It's okay," she admitted without looking up. "I like the horses, but I'm too afraid to get on."

"Maybe Aunt Liz will be able to help you with that on Sunday," April pointed out that time.

Jaiden's small form seemed to tense up. "I'm too scared to do anything," she admitted some more, unable to lift her gaze. "It all looked fun but I can't do it."

"You can do anything you set your mind to," Rory encouraged the kid. "If you want to have fun with everyone else, you have to take a chance. I believe you can do it."

April agreed. "Me too."

"And we can get you a camera so you can take lots of pictures to show us all the fun things you will get to do," she added, excitedly.

"And, if you want, I can take you camping before you leave, and teach you all the wilderness stuff you need to know," Luke also inputted from beside her, nudging her arm with his elbow.

"And we'll make sure to write to you every day," April also nudged her other arm. "Even from where we'll be."

Rory got an idea that time. "Hey, maybe we can make you a care package to send while you're there." She looked over at Lorelai. "Right, Mom?"

Lorelai forced a smile. "Yeah, that sounds great." Even though she was putting up a front for Jaiden's sake, Lorelai couldn't help feel like a nervous mother hen. She couldn't help feel like something bad could happen up there. Hopefully, the next trial would be done and over with and Howard would be locked up by then. That way, she'd feel a little more at ease about the whole thing. It was only wishful thinking, though.

She noticed Jaiden giving her a concerned look.

April must have caught it first because she asked, "What's wrong, Jaiden?"

Jaiden switched between her and April before she asked Lorelai, "Do you not want me to go?"

Lorelai swallowed the noodles she had been chewing. "I just want to make sure you're not being forced to go somewhere you don't want to go, sweetheart. Like we talked about the other day, remember?"

"That's understandable, Mom, but lying and saying Jaiden's sick to get out of going isn't the solution. That just might put you in a bad spot with being able to adopt her," said Rory.

She sighed some more.

"Besides, Celia will be there, Jaiden's last foster parents will be there and will be her cabin counselor. And Jaiden has us this time around. It'll be great, I promise." Rory smiled over at Jaiden at the last part. "Right, Jaiden?"

A small smile appeared on the kid's face unable to hold it back. Looks like things were settled then. Didn't mean Lorelai would stop worrying, though.

Jaiden wanted to watch her movie Rory had gotten for her when they first met before the family headed to bed. She also still wanted to sleep in Luke and Lorelai's bed, asking for permission, this time.

"Of course, sweetheart," said Lorelai. "We will always have an open-door policy whenever you're afraid. Even in the middle of the night after we've gone to sleep, our door will be wide open. Luke and I will chase those little terrors right out the door." She snickered at that.

So, for the second night in a row, Jaiden climbed into their bed.

When Jaiden was situated, Lorelai felt inclined to ask, "You sure about wanting to go to camp, sweetheart?"

Jaiden nodded.

"I mean, I can find some way to try and get ya out of it. I can be very persuasive when I have to be." She gave the kid a wink.

Luke came out of the bathroom, shutting the light off. "Lorelai, stop."

"What?" she questioned, shrugging her hands up. "I'm just saying I am."

"Just because you don't like the outdoors, doesn't mean you should be trying to talk Jaiden out of what could be a great experience for her and might even help make friends, or a friend."

"I'm not trying to talk her out of going if she wants to," Lorelai told him. "If Jaiden wants to like the outdoors, that's okay. I just don't want her to feel forced into doing something she doesn't want to do, like I told her."

Luke couldn't help scoff to himself under his breath, remembering the many times Lorelai has talked him into doing things he did not want to do. But he didn't want to have this conversation in front of Jaiden. He also wanted to discuss the other topic just the two of them before discussing the matter with her, present.

With a streak of luck, April had poked her head in, knocking on the door. "Sorry to interrupt the party," she said. "Could I have a word, Jaiden? I forgot to ask earlier."

Jaiden eyed the teenager, nervously. "Did I do something wrong?"

April shook her head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. I just wanted to discuss an important matter for your opinion on something." She then added, "it won't take long," when Jaiden hesitated.

Pushing herself onto her hands and knees, Jaiden crawled over to the foot of the bed and stepped down. Luke made sure to ask one of the girls to close the door behind them and for Jaiden to knock first before entering.

"Should I put music on so we won't hear anything?" April asked, awkwardly.

It took a moment for Luke to figure out what it was his oldest was implying until Lorelai assured that's not what they were going to do. April just shut the door behind them, leaving the couple alone. Once the girls were gone, Luke looked down towards the floor, grabbing onto the back of his neck.

"So, uh, Jaiden reminded me this morning if I was still planning on having us talk, the three of us," he began without lifting his gaze.

"Then, shouldn't we wait for Jaiden?" she asked.

"I told her I wanted to speak with you first," Luke explained, forcing himself to look up at her. "So, you both had a chat, huh?"

Lorelai shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "You got to give your side of the situation. I just wanted to make sure Jaiden understood mine."

"But I thought we agreed to wait until after the trial?"

"We agreed we shouldn't be arguing," she reminded him. "Nothing was said, I couldn't talk to her about it."

"What exactly did you tell her?" he questioned, now holding his hands on his sides.

"That I felt like my mother was trying to take control of the situation and that I didn't want Jaiden to feel like she has to do everything everybody else tells her to do."

"So, basically, you told her if I tell her to do something, she doesn't have to listen to me if she doesn't want to."

"No, I did not say she didn't have to listen to you, Luke. I only said that if somebody tells her do something that is unreasonable, she doesn't have. I made sure to tell her that if she wants to go with what you talked about and feels like she doesn't need Stanley, then she can. But her and I had a deal. If Jaiden feels she needs him, no matter what, she can have it and my mother can't say other wise."

Luke had to pace across the room. "I don't understand. It was your idea to teach her how to compromise, so I went along. Then, suddenly, your mother gets involved, and now it's, Jaiden can have what she wants while the other person has to bend to whatever that is?"

"Yes, Luke," Lorelai spat. "When me and her makes a deal or a promise, I intend to make sure that is kept. Jaiden's had enough promises broken, I don't want her to have to live through more broken promises."

"That's not the way life works, Lorelai. Sometimes, stuff happens and the promises we make can sometimes break, whether intentional or not. We can't shelter her from anything else that could go wrong," he pointed out.

"No, but I'll make damn sure to try," she argued.

Luke ran his hands down his face. He'd love nothing more than to shield the kid from anymore heartbreak, too. That much he could agree with.

"Why are you even still making a big deal out of this? Jaiden took the deal. Everybody wins." Lorelai shrugged in confusion. "Why are you still upset?"

"I get what you're saying, and like I told Jaiden, I goofed at not explaining the difference between a reasonable request and unreasonable one like with dealing with her grandfather." He pointed at her, "but the fact of the matter is, not only did you go behind my back on this, you also went back on what we were trying to teach her." By this point, his tone was rising.

Lorelai also raised her tone. "I'm sorry but I am not gonna allow anyone to tell my daughter what she can and can't have."

"Don't you mean _our_ daughter?" Luke reminded her, pointing a finger between them. "If _we're_ gonna teach Jaiden something such as compromising, it has to remain consistent, even if that involves your mother. Now, that doesn't mean they shouldn't have to compromise with her. You're right, whatever rules are in place, should be reasonable. But even if we don't like the rules, that doesn't mean they have to be bent because we don't like them. I'm glad your mother was able to find a compromise with her, I wasn't expecting that, to be honest. Emily did basically let Jaiden keep her toy, so really, yes, we won," he shrugged. "I wasn't even sure why you were upset over that."

"Because, for once, I wanted my mother to back off and get nothing. There shouldn't be a set end goal on when Jaiden can keep Stanley."

Luke dropped onto his side of the bed, facing her. His leg was folded in towards him. "Lorelai, the whole thing about having the toy was if Jaiden was feeling uncomfortable where she isn't used to. If she get used to being at your parents' house and feels comfortable with them, then Jaiden wouldn't need the toy. I want Jaiden to be able to grow up confident in herself without help from anything or anyone. Eventually, she won't need a toy or us, for that matter, someday. That's why I went along with this compromising thing and why I came up with another solution in case your mother didn't compromise."

Lorelai had to look away, shaking her head.

"Trust me when I say, every urge inside of me wants to protect that little girl from every single bad thing in this world." Luke moved closer and took a hold of her hand in both of his. "But even I know that's not possible." He quickly made sure to add, "not that we're not gonna try," and gave her a knowing look that made her smile. "I'm not saying take away the toy now and say she can't have it, but eventually, I want to boost her confidence enough to start standing on her own to where she can make the decision whether something is reasonable or not. You see what I'm saying?"

She nodded and told him, "I really did make sure that if Jaiden wanted to go with your suggestion, she could, when she asked."

"I believe you," he assured her. "But judging by how confused and upset Jaiden got when she was trying to make a decision, I don't think she fully understood. That's why I was upset with you about going behind my back."

"She kept telling me she did understand." Lorelai dropped her face in her hands. She lifted it. "I even started off by saying, I didn't think you were wrong."

"But you were telling her the opposite from what I said, telling her she didn't have to do it. To a kid like Jaiden, that sounds like she has the option to not listen to me, either. I get what you were trying to tell her, but you gotta remember, Lorelai, that she's only a kid. We have to stay consistent. If you had just waited, we could have worked something out together. You're not in this parenting thing alone this time."

"I know, and you're right."

"If it helps, I'm sorry for going to Jaiden that night without you, too. I'm probably just to blame in all this," he added.

Lorelai couldn't help let out a groan. "No, it's just... My mother can really make me so crazy, sometimes."

"Hey, remember, I had an uncle that wasn't easy to get along with either," Luke pointed out with a smirk. "I put up with him for my dad's sake, though."

She looked at him, sideways. "I'm pretty sure my mother has your uncle beat."

"I don't know about that. At least your mother tolerates children. Lost count how many times Liz came running into my room growing up especially during that short time he lived with us."

"Didn't your dad do anything?" Lorelai couldn't help question.

"Didn't help Liz had a tendency to talk back and liked to use her favorite word, no and her favorite phase, I don't want to," he said.

"Still, though," she shrugged. "You shouldn't use fear to get a kid to do what you want them to do."

"Oh, I know, but that's the kind of guy Louie was," Luke shrugged. "Not that it makes it any better. I wouldn't want the guy around Jaiden, that's for sure."

"So, what are we gonna tell Jaiden about this whole situation?" Lorelai asked, getting back on topic.

"Well, apologize, for one. Both of us," he replied. "Second, she has to know, unless it's something unreasonable coming from someone like her grandfather, she has to follow their rule. And if it seems unfair to her, she can come talk to us, and if it is unfair, come up with a compromise with that person. What do you think about that?"

"But what if that person won't want to compromise? Or what if it goes against what we've decided?"

Luke shrugged. "I think all of our friends and family would be onboard with us, and now that your mother sees the full situation, I don't think we'll have anymore issues. The only other thing I honestly see is the school. There's been times I got in trouble in that school as a kid, but not with my dad because it was usually something stupid, like when Bootsy smashed my clay handprint in the first grade and the teacher busted me for it because they only saw me shove him even though three kids said they saw him do it." Even after all these years, there was still some resentment and bitterness in him about towards Bootsy.

Closing her eyes at that, Lorelai told him, "Okay, hun, you have got to let that go. That was over thirty years ago. You both are mature, grown men, now."

"Not until that guy apologizes," he pointed a finger on the bed beside him.

Lorelai just rolled her eyes in amusement.

A knock on the door got their attention.

"Come in," Lorelai was the one to call out.

The bedroom door slowly opened a little as a head shyly poked her head in. "Can I come back now?" Jaiden softly asked, politely.

Lorelai exchanged a quick look with Luke, who nodded. "Sure, sweetheart." She smiled for the little girl.

Jaiden then made her way in and climbed onto the bed again. Her hair had been surprisingly put into a ponytail.

"Did April help put your hair in a ponytail?"

She nodded. "After we talked about something."

"What did you talk about?" Lorelai asked with curiosity.

"I can't say. It's a surprise," she replied.

"Oh, okay." Lorelai smiled, knowing what was coming up, next weekend.

Luke had decided to see if Jaiden was tired or not. "How are you feeling right now? Are you up for having that talk I said we would have, or do you want to wait until tomorrow?"

Jaiden dropped her head towards the bed as if she was thinking on it.

"It's okay if you want to wait," he assured her. "We don't want to keep you up if you're too tired. We just want to make sure you understand what happened with Lorelai's mother and your toy."

"Get it over with now," she finally answered.

"Are you sure, sweetheart?" Lorelai also made sure.

Jaiden nodded.

Sharing a look with each other, Luke let Lorelai go first. "So, I guess your dad and I sent you mixed messages, huh?"

Jaiden just stared back at her, confused.

"We noticed how confused you were when my mother was offering that compromise." Lorelai leaned forward, gently taking a hold of her right hand. "We didn't mean to confuse you, sweetheart. We were both trying to make the situation better. I still stand by what I told you how I thought my mother was trying to control the situation, but it really was great of her to offer to let you keep Stanley while you get to know her and my father." She smiled at Jaiden who nodded.

"I know I shouldn't have gone back on what I had been teaching you. My mom and I don't have that great of a relationship, but that doesn't mean I would want you to have a bad one with her, too. My parents were wonderful with Rory when she was a kid and I know they will love you. Now that she's willing to compromise with us and with you, and knows more about your situation, I hope we can put this behind us and move on."

"But we want you to be able to understand, especially since you will be going with my sister on Sunday," Luke spoke up.

Jaiden looked over at him.

"None of our friends and family will ever ask something of you that would make you uncomfortable, Tiger, so we would expect you to listen to them because during the time you're with them and not with us, they are in charge. Same as if we leave Rory or April with you. They would be in charge, too."

"But our friends and family are only human," Lorelai added. "They might mess up just like your dad and I did with not explaining things better. I stand by what I told you about hearing your side of a situation, though."

Luke wrapped an arm around her and told Jaiden the clay handprint story and about his dad not busting him like the school had. "As long as you tell the truth, you will never be in trouble with us. Okay?"

She nodded.

"It's okay to ask us questions if you need to, sweetheart."

"So I do whatever Aunt Liz says when we go on Sunday?" Jaiden asked.

"Yes, but I've talked with my sister," Luke was the one to reply. "She's not going to be bossy, and is willing to go at your pace."

"We've talked with our other friends and family and let them know what we could share. None of them will be bossy or unreasonable. Nobody we know will ever do anything that your grandfather has done, I can promise you that," Lorelai assured her.

Jaiden nodded.

"And Luke and I are gonna try to be better at communicating with each other and with you. I just want to let you know, though, there will be disagreements and you might hear us arguing like I'm sure you've probably already heard. Now, we'll also try and make sure not to argue around you, but if you do hear us, just know, neither of us are violent. None of our fights would ever get physical, nor would we ever take it out on you or even raise our voice towards you. It's perfectly normal to have disagreements, but we will try and come up with a compromise just like we've been teaching you. Does any of that make sense? It's okay if it doesn't. I tend to not make sense, sometimes."

Jaiden nodded. "I think so," she said softly. "Can I ask a question?"

"Of course, sweetheart. You can always ask us anything."

"What's unreasonable?"

"Being unreasonable is like your grandfather asking for a hug when that makes you uncomfortable," she explained. "Or something like that. Nobody should ever force you to hug them if you don't feel comfortable with them, sweetheart. Only _you_ are in charge of your body. No one should ever touch you in a way that hurts you or makes you uncomfortable. Okay?"

"Okay," she nodded. "But, what about if they say I can't have Stanley?"

"We'll let them know about Stanley, and like I said, the rest of our friends and family are pretty understanding."

"If the instructor says you can't have Stanley while you're on the horse, maybe Liz can hold him for you," Luke suggested. "Do you need both hands to steer a horse?" He looked over at Lorelai whom he was directing the question at.

She shrugged. "Why are you asking me? I've never ridden a horse before."

Turning back to Jaiden, he said, "Well, regardless, just remember what we talked about. I'm sure Liz won't mind if you squeeze her hand, and the same goes for our other family and friends too. Okay?"

Jaiden nodded.

"You sure you're up for going on Sunday?" Luke couldn't help ask one more time.

She nodded. "I want to learn to ride for camp. And Aunt Liz seems nice, too."

He smiled. "She is. A little crazy sometimes. But I have complete trust of my sister with you."

"And you can spend time with Doula," Jaiden pointed out.

At that, Luke wrapped his arms around the little girl, pulling her in. He kissed the top of her head. "You are a very sweet kid, Tiger. Don't ever change. For anyone."

Jaiden smiled up at him at that. "You are the nicest guy I met," she told him.

That warmed his heart to hear her say that about him.

Watching the scene in front of her, Lorelai went into her nightstand and pulled out her camera. Once the thing was turned on, she told the two, to look over there, snagging a picture. She also handed the camera to Luke, to take one of her and Jaiden.

Jaiden crawled over to sit beside her foster mom who wrapped her arms around the kid's shoulders, pulling Jaiden towards her. They took the first of soon to be many more family pictures which Jaiden also told Lorelai, "And you're the nicest lady I met." Tears of joy surely followed.


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Saturday morning, Luke had to open the diner again. Of course Jaiden woke up and wanted to tag along. The rest of the girls met them there much later for breakfast. While they ate, Lorelai had a brilliant idea for the little girl. Always looking for an excuse to go shopping, she made the suggestion to buy an outfit for Jaiden for her first riding lesson, thinking she'd look adorable in a cowgirl outfit with some cowgirl boots and a matching hat. And it wouldn't be too girly either.

Though, Jaiden was still unsure leaving Luke's side, she willingly accepted to go with Lorelai and Rory while April stayed to help out in the diner.

On the drive to the mall, it was Jaiden who said they could listen to their music if they wanted to, only requesting not to play the radio too loud at the extra loud songs.

"You got it, Jaiden," Rory was the one to reply, reaching over to switch the radio station, and thanked her.

"You're welcome," she said politely. "Daddy said we should let April listen to her music when we went fishing."

Rory gave her a sweet smile. "It is always nice to share the radio, now and then."

Jaiden nodded. She was holding Stanley on her lap, sitting behind Lorelai's seat.

At the mall, they went in search of a western clothing store, checking the directory first since they never had a reason to go into one. Jaiden walked in between Lorelai and Rory, making sure to stick close. She had to walk extra fast to keep up. At one point, Lorelai felt a tap on her arm. Hunching over, she lowered her ear for the kid, who asked if they could walk slower.

Lorelai apologized, realizing the kid wasn't used to their speed yet. Her and Rory then tried to make a conscious effort to walk slower.

Once the girls found the store, they looked around the children's section finding a few pairs of jeans and flannel shirts. The hat took a while since Lorelai and Rory were having fun trying them on themselves, and tried to get Jaiden into the fun spirit. It took a whole lot of effort but they were able to accomplish such a task. They also found a western belt that wasn't too oversized.

Jaiden also tried on a few pairs of cowgirl boots to find her size. The first two were too small. They thought the third was a good fit until Jaiden tried walking up and down the aisle in them and her toes started hurting. It was the fourth pair that ended up being the winner.

Before paying for them, Lorelai wanted Jaiden to try at least one outfit on so they could see it on her, asking if the kid needed help with her shirt. To her relief, Jaiden accepted the help this time, letting Lorelai come into the dressing room with her.

Leaving Jaiden alone to put the boots on, Lorelai returned to sitting outside the dressing rooms where Rory was waiting on a bench. Shortly afterwards, Jaiden emerged all dressed up, including the hat.

Lorelai's face lit up with excitement. "Yee Haw! Y'all look amazing, sweetheart," she complimented, trying to do her best western impression, which Rory agreed. She had Jaiden look at herself in the full sized mirror. "Do you like it?"

Looking at her reflection, Jaiden studied herself before giving her foster mom an answer. She turned her head back to Lorelai to nod.

After paying for everything, the girls left the store with their purchases in the store's plastic bags.

Jaiden tapped Lorelai on the arm and shyly asked if she could wear her new hat and boots to break them in.

"Sure, sweetheart." They went over to a bench by a fountain so Jaiden could change from her tennis shoes to her new boots. Cowgirl boots didn't exactly matched with basketball shorts but if Jaiden didn't care, then it didn't matter and Lorelai was willing to look passed it, considering fashion was her thing.

The girls stopped at a few other stores that actually made the little girl really bored as they looked at clothes, purses, and shoes.

Luke called to check in and see if the girls were almost done yet. To help Jaiden not feel bored, Lorelai passed her the phone so she would have someone to talk to while they finished up, overhearing the kid say she had almost fallen asleep on a shoe store bench.

Once finished with their shopping, the girls stopped by the food court for lunch, getting their usual orders. Jaiden stuck with her lemonade and ate the least amount of food than the other two, of course. Lorelai was just glad to see the kid eat at all.

Luke was coming out of the garage when the jeep was pulling into the driveway. Jaiden immediately climbed out once Lorelai folded her seat down, and dashed over to him, scooping Jaiden up onto his side.

"Hey, Tiger," he greeted happily. "Aside from the boring parts, you have fun?"

She nodded. "Look." Jaiden opened her mouth to show Luke the gap where her loose tooth used to be.

His eyebrows rose when Luke saw she had already lost the tooth. "It fell out already?"

She nodded. "One of my chicken fingers had a super hard part and the tooth bit it."

"Don't worry, I got the tooth," Lorelai called out from the back end of the jeep before asking Jaiden to come help carry in her stuff.

Luke congratulated the little girl, then set her down on her feet. "Go help carry everything in, then come back out here. There's something I want to show ya."

Jaiden hurried over to take the bags with her stuff from Lorelai, and followed her and Rory inside.

Luke returned inside the garage to wait for the kid who returned twenty minutes later once everything was put away. She was still wearing her new boots and hat, seeming like Jaiden was loving them.

Jaiden shyly knocked on the inside of the open garage door, looking around it.

Calling her over, Luke lifted Jaiden onto his side once again. "Look here, what do you see?" he motioned at a bunch of parts he collected from home depot and a bike shop.

Jaiden shrugged. With some encouragement to take a guess, she said, "Pieces of a bike?"

"Yep. Wanna know who's it for?"

She briefly shrugged.

Luke pointed at her with his pointer finger. "You."

She gave him a puzzled look. "Me?"

"That's right," he said. "My dad built both me and Liz a bike when we were kids and since you don't have one yet, I wanted to do the same for you. And, if you wanted, I thought maybe you'd like to help me. How does that sound?"

Jaiden went quiet. Chewing on her lip, she admitted, "I never rode a bike before. I don't know how."

"Tiger, sweetie." Luke looked her straight in the eye, ducking his head a little. "Remember when you said you didn't know how to cook and ice skate, and all that other stuff?"

She nodded timidly.

"It's okay not to know how to do something. Nobody is born with that knowledge. We've all had to learn and at different rates, too. Okay?"

Again, she nodded.

Luke gave her a kind smile to make her smile. "So, how about it? Wanna help me put this together?"

More boldly this time, Jaiden nodded.

He set her back down on her feet.

Grabbing the main frame of the bike, which Luke told her, they could change the color if she wanted to, they got to work. He explained, step by step, each part of the process, teaching her the tools they used and made sure to let Jaiden actually help just as his dad taught him. Attaching the handlebars was the next step, having Jaiden tighten each bolt. Luke at least made sure the bolts were as tight as they could go so the bike didn't fall apart, but for the most part, he had Jaiden do it, explaining how it was important for her, the rider, to know each piece of the bike was working the way it should.

Lorelai supplied the water, making sure the two stayed hydrated while they were working out there. Luke and Jaiden ended up working on the bike all afternoon. A radio Luke kept in the garage was eventually turned on, playing a mix of old and new country music in the background. They were working so hard, they didn't hear the unexpected guest wander up.

"Yee haw," Somebody playfully teased, causing the duo to jump out of their skin. Jaiden clung to Luke, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Luke twisted around to see who had startled them, to see his grown nephew standing in the doorway of the garage, wearing that smirk of his. "Jeez, Jess," he told the guy in an annoyed tone, turning away. He looked back to ask, "what are you doing here, anyway?"

Jess was holding his hands, shoved into the pockets of his jeans. Shrugging, he said, "I thought I come visit my favorite uncle."

"I'm your only uncle," he pointed out.

"Actually, you're not," Jess corrected, pointing a finger at him before returning it to his pocket. "Jimmy has a brother."

"Really?" Luke questioned in surprise.

"Yep."

"Huh." One learns something new everyday. Luke turned back to where he was showing Jaiden how to attach the chain, now that the wheels and the parts that the chain wrapped around were attached, once he was able to reassure Jaiden it was only her soon-to-be cousin.

Jess ended up watching in silence as Luke and Jaiden did the finishing touches on the bike. Jaiden ended up not minding the blue color of the bike frame so they never had to repaint it, which saved them from having to wait a full twenty-four hours for the frame to completely dry.

Now completely finished, Luke stood up, lifting the bike with him with two hands, and flipped it over, onto its inflated tires.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked Jaiden.

Jaiden looked the bike over. "This is mine?" She looked up at him.

"Yep, all yours." Luke smiled brightly. It quickly vanished when he noticed her tear up. Kneeling to her level, he asked, "What's wrong, Tiger?"

She wiped her eyes along her arm. It took a moment before Jaiden could answer. "I never had my own bike before."

Tilting her hat up so Luke could see her face, he told her, "Well, Tiger, now you do," and gave her an encouraging smile.

She suddenly hugged his neck at the sound of that. "Thank you," she told him from his shoulder.

Luke held his arms around her. "You're welcome, Tiger." He then kissed the side of her head.

Jess, who was still standing there, watching them, spoke up. "Be glad you don't live in New York. After having three bikes stolen, Liz stopped trying to replace mine when I was a kid."

Jaiden let go of her foster dad to look over at Jess.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure I loaned your mom the money for two of those bikes," Luke pointed out.

Jess shrugged. "Probably. When I got older, I tried making my own money and got me a bike of my own. Once that was stolen, I gave up and figured it wasn't worth the trouble."

"I had toys stolen, too," said Jaiden, turning red afterwards and looked away at the ground.

Luke ran a comforting hand along her back while Jess remained silent. He noticed the guy glance between Jaiden and the ground.

Breaking the awkward tension, Jess stood up from where he was leaning against the wall. "I wasn't planning on bringing this till the end of the summer before school starts, but I got the kid something."

Luke stood up to join his nephew. "You didn't have to bring her anything," he told him, modest.

"I told you I would," he shrugged casually.

Luke stared at him with a confused look. It wasn't long before he remembered what they had talked about over the phone. "You didn't."

Jess smirked. "Yep. Every kid needs a pony, right?"

"Wait, what?" He had to shake his head a little, trying to wrap his mind around what his nephew just said. That was not what Luke was expecting to hear and hoped Jess was just kidding.

"Kidding," Jess suddenly told him, bringing relief. "Come on, I'll show ya." With a motion of his head, he had his uncle and Jaiden follow him out to his car. Jess opened the door to the back seat, on the passenger side and moved so Luke could look inside.

Laying across the whole back seat was a sealed cardboard box with a label showing a picture of a punching bag.

Lifting his head to look at his nephew, Luke questioned, "You got her a punching bag?"

"Gloves too." When nothing else was said, Jess continued. "Liz filled me in on what happened the other day, about how the trial went. So, I thought now was a better time than any to start showing the kid how to protect herself."

"Jess, she's eight."

He pointed at him with the arm leaning on the top of the open car door. "Don't mean nothing." Briefly pointing over at Jaiden, he added, "If the kid has enough adrenaline pumping through her and knows what to do, you be surprised the damage an eight-year-old can do." The look in the guy's eye seemed to tell Luke he was speaking from experience. Going around to the other side, Jess opened that car door. He told Luke to grab his side while Jess pushed it towards him. Luke tried to tell him, Jaiden's team wouldn't go for her learning to fight, especially if they didn't want her playing on a hockey team.

"I'm not teaching her how to fight. I'm teaching her how to defend herself. Give a kid something they can hit other than another person, it'll help them let off that excess steam that would otherwise come out, unintentionally. All that rage, this is probably the best thing she needs." Jess was holding his arms, folded, on top of the car. Luke couldn't think his nephew was probably right. All that hurt and anger Jaiden was keeping bottled up that was being released whenever somebody got too close, needed to be let out some way. Though, talking was the best way to lift that burden off. Talking also doesn't come easy. At least, not at first. Plus, knowing how to protect herself might not be such a bad thing.

It took both guys to carry the long, heavy box over to the house. There was a short argument of who was going up the steps, backwards, which Luke lost.

"Don't go that fast," he told Jess.

"A snail goes faster than the speed I was moving," Jess argued.

"Does the snail have an engine in its shell?" Luke asked sarcastically.

Jess gave in, letting out an annoyed groan. "Fine, move. I'll go up, first." The men then switched sides. Looking from side to side, where he was going, Jess carefully made his way up the the stairs.

Meanwhile, Jaiden was standing back with Stanley in her arms, watching the uncle and nephew duo.

Inside, Rory had gotten up from the couch, where her and Lorelai were watching TV. She wandered over to the window to look out. "Was Luke expecting Jess?" she asked, looking between her mom and the window where the guys were arguing.

Lorelai switched off the TV and made her way over. "Not that I know of. Luke never mentioned anything." She looked through the window just as Jess was making his way up the steps.

They noticed the large box in their hands. "What is that?"

"Not sure." Lorelai tried to get a good look at the box. Unfortunately, the picture wasn't visible on their side.

The guys carried the box over towards a corner of the porch. Luke told Jess to set it down, easy but the younger guy ended up dropping it an inch from the floor, causing him to smash his fingers underneath.

"What did I just say?!" Luke snapped at his nephew, irritably.

"I thought you were ready," Jess protested.

Luke gave his nephew a hard glare as he stated he was grabbing his toolbox from the garage, shaking his hand out like that would help the minor pain, stop. As he walked by Jaiden, Luke touched a hand to the top of her head as she looked up at him. She reached out to pat his leg as if she wanted to tell him something. Stopping, he turned part way so she could.

Jaiden reached for the hand that had gotten smashed, pulling it towards her and kissed his hand like Lorelai had kissed her knee.

All pissed off feelings caused by his nephew suddenly vanished. "Thanks, Tiger," he told her.

"I'm not a mommy but I thought it might help," she admitted, timidly as Jaiden stared at the ground. Even in the twilight hours, Luke could see her cheeks blush from embarrassment.

"It does."

Jaiden stole a look up at him.

Giving her another smile, Luke playfully hit the front of her hat, making it drop in front of her eyes which she lifted with her fingers. He made sure to tell her, he would be right back before grabbing his toolbox from the garage. Luke brought it back to where Jess was already tearing open the box with a swiss knife he had on him.

Lorelai and Rory had also emerged from the house by this point. Lorelai was the one to ask if they were expecting him.

"Nope," Jess replied in his usual monosyllabic tone.

Luke had returned, caring his toolbox in one hand. "He brought Jaiden a punching bag for her to use," he was the one to explain. "To teach her how to defend herself."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" asked Rory, turning back to Jess, her arms crossed in front of her. "Isn't the whole point of the healing process is for Jaiden to move past the violent outbursts?"

Jess finally looked up from where he was pulling everything but the punching bag itself from the box. "Would you rather the kid lash out at another kid? Or this?" He nodded down at the punching bag. Jess turned and hurried his uncle along so they could put this thing up.

As Luke made his way over, he heard Lorelai greet his toolbox by the name she had given it, making him roll his eyes. While the guys worked on putting up the punching bag, the girls watched from the porch swing. The two older girls each had a cup of coffee while Jaiden had a glass of water, sitting between them as they listened to the uncle and nephew try and work together with minimal arguing. It was quite entertaining, to be honest. Who needed cable TV when one had _The Adventures of Luke and Jess_ as entertainment. Though, after a while, Jaiden got up to go play with her hockey set, shooting each of her balls into one of the nets.

Even Paul Anka had joined them, lying near the porch swing where Lorelai was sitting.

April had emerged last, curious where everyone was and took Jaiden's spot on the swing. When she noticed Jaiden was playing by herself, she went over, asking if she could join her and played a one-one-one quick game until the guys finally finished.

Jess grabbed the wrapping that went around the hands, calling Jaiden over with a swift motion of his head. Dropping the stick in the grass, the kid timidly made her way over.

Kneeling to her level, Jess asked for one of her hands and wrapped it up. He did the same with the other hand before grabbing a pair of child-sized boxing gloves. "It can hurt if you punch the thing with your bare hands," he explained as Jess slipped the first one on.

With Jaiden taken care of, he did the same with an adult-sized pair.

"I'm sure you're already aware you're stronger than you think," he said while wrapping the second hand. "Doesn't matter how big the other person is. Even if they're twice your size, or even triple, you can bring'em down. Got it?"

Jaiden nodded but still looked unsure.

Once both of his hands were wrapped, Jess reached down to grab his pair of gloves and slid them on. "I am here to make sure nobody messes with you again." He quickly added, "but only as self defense like this grandfather I've heard so much about."

Timidly and soft as a mouse, she asked, "Like S'or-egger?"

Jess just stared at the kid in confusion. "Like, who?" One, it was hard to hear her when she spoke that low. And, two, Jess wasn't aware of her being a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. It was Luke who translated. "Yes, but I won't be teaching you how to tear a guy's arm clear off. Just the fighting part."

So, for the next hour, Jess shared all of his knowledge with the kid of what he had come to learn, growing up in New York. They used the punching bag for the most part, having her pretend it was her grandfather, as an example.

At first, Jaiden barely gave it love taps until Jess told her, she could do better than that and demonstrated once more for her.

"Now, you wanna know the most sensitive area for us, guys?"

Jaiden just shrugged, using one shoulder, as she stared up at him.

Luke rolled his eyes from where he was leaning against the porch railing, watching. "Jess."

His nephew ignored him. "Right below the belt, and right now, you are perfect height to just punch them in that spot as hard as you can. If you can pull that off, you are golden. They'll be stunned long enough for you to book it."

"Very nice, Jess." Rory also rolled her eyes.

"I'm being real, here," he insisted. "Do what you gotta do, even if it's a cheap shot." Jess also taught her about kicking somebody in the back of the knee to also bring them down to her level, among a few other moves to use.

To finish up the lesson, Jess had Jaiden let off some steam by hitting the punching bag as much as she can while he held it in place for her.

"Come on, kid. Show me all you got. Don't hold back," he encouraged.

Jaiden did as Jess had taught her on how to punch. With each encouragement, the kid soon got more and more into it.

"That's it. Keep going, kid."

Though, it didn't take long before Jaiden was full-on going at it. All that the kid seemed to be holding in, was now coming out with a vengeance, along with tears.

Luke felt himself shoot up from the railing to interfere as Lorelai suggested that was probably enough, but Jess stopped them and told the couple to let Jaiden get it all out of her system.

"Trust me," he said, barely glancing over at his uncle as he watched the kid continue to wail on the poor punching bag. "It's for her own good." Jess then continued with the encouragement until exhaustion set in and Jaiden collapsed against the thing, holding onto it as the tears waterfalled down both sides of her face.

"You were great, kid. It'll all be worth it," he told her, sympathetic.

Finally, Luke went over and lifted the kid into his arms. "Come here, Tiger," he had told her, gently, making sure not to scare her. Luke let her grab onto him around his neck and cry into his shoulder.

Once Jaiden had settled down and her cries turned to sniffles, Jess asked her, "Feels better, huh? Even just a little?"

Jaiden nodded over at him from her foster dad's shoulder.

Quiet, monosyllable, tough Jess gave the kid a knowing but kind smile. "Good."


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

For dinner that evening, Jaiden wanted to help Luke in the kitchen, making a quick meal of spaghetti and garlic bread. With an added person, dinner was eaten in the living room in front of the TV as the table would have been crowded.

Of course, Jaiden showered that night before bed since she spent half the day outside, helping put together her new bike and learning how to defend herself. While she was in the shower, Luke and Lorelai talked about how they were going to do the whole 'tooth fairy' ritual. It was probably best for Jaiden to be in her own bed, but who was going to play the tooth fairy was another story.

"I'll do it," Luke offered. How hard was it to sneak in the kid's room and exchange a tooth for money?

"Okay, but you're gonna have to wear the tights," Lorelai pointed out.

He stared at her, at that. "What tights?"

"Duh," she replied as if he should know. "For the tooth fairy costume. If Jaiden happens to wake up during the exchange, you gotta look the part."

"I am not dressing up like the tooth fairy," he stated firmly.

"So what are you gonna do if she wakes up? What would you tell her when she sees you taking her tooth instead of the sweet and beautiful tooth fairy lady?" Lorelai folded her arms, looking offended for the kid's last innocence.

"Fine, then you do it."

"But I've already played the tooth fairy many, many, many times," she stated dramatically. "I think you should have that chance," she insisted.

"I am not putting on a tooth fairy costume just to sneak into our daughter's room during the night. I'll feel ridiculous."

"You know, you actually don't need to dress up," April pointed out. "My mom just had me put my tooth on my nightstand where she could easily slip in and grab it without the possibility of waking me up."

"But that's no fun," Lorelai argued.

"Mom, you never dressed up in a tooth fairy costume either," Rory ratted her out.

"And how would you know? You were asleep."

"Because I would have found a costume in our dresser that we shared when I was a kid."

"No, because I hid it elsewhere so you wouldn't be able to find it," she continued to insist. "Do you really think I would put something like that where you would be able to see it?"

Rory just stared at her mom, knowingly. "You just want to see Luke in tights, don't you?"

Lorelai stuttered, trying to deny the accusation. She knew she was caught but when did she ever fess up to anything without a fight?

"Trust me, I do not look good in tights," Luke stated, not budging an inch.

"And you would know this, how?" asked April.

This time, it was his turn to stutter on his words. "Well, uh… I've known my body my whole life, so I think I would know what it can and can't look great in."

April just muttered, "Okay," out loud to herself before dropping the matter. As far as he was concerned, nobody needed to know how he was somehow talked into playing Peter Pan back in high school.

Luke did end up the one playing the tooth fairy, planning to go in there around the time Jaiden's night terrors usually would start so he could also calm her down. It took some persuasion for her to sleep in her own bed. Thankfully, Lorelai came to the rescue and taught her about the Sandman, who comes right after a kid falls asleep and sprinkles sand on their eyelids to help with a peaceful sleep without night terrors if that is what the kid wishes. She added the wish part when Jaiden questioned why he never came before. So, while they were putting Jaiden to bed, Lorelai "taught" her what to say to invite the Sandman in. Making it up as she went along, of course.

Because it was already late, Luke insisted Jess stay the night, which Luke made up a bed for him on the couch, wrapping the cushions with an extra fitted sheet they kept in the linen and towel closet, for guests. Though, Luke wasn't one hundred percent sure on how he felt about having him few feet away from Rory's room, considering the two had a history together and made sure that was indeed just history and nothing else.

"Yes, because I would try something with you right above us," Jess said in a sarcastic, joking manner.

"Jess," he warned. "I'm serious."

"Don't worry, it's ancient history. I'm over it." Luke eyed his nephew carefully before saying good night, and headed up to bed, himself.

Later, when the whole house was dark and its residents were all fast asleep, Luke's alarm clock went off during the time he had planned. Quickly shutting it off, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, waking up enough to go through with this.

Since Lorelai had promised Jaiden, the tooth fairy would pay the full amount she owed for the other teeth, as well as this one, her and Luke agreed to leave six dollars. Since Jaiden wasn't sure if this was either her fifth or sixth lost tooth, they just decided to go with six, making it a dollar a tooth.

Luke carefully and quietly made his way down the hallway to the girls' room. The door was already open so he just crept inside and over to Jaiden's side. Even though it was dark, Luke could still see enough without bumping into anything.

Paul Anka had decided to sleep in there with Jaiden, who had her arm around the dog while her other arm was holding Stanley. Of course, Paul Anka woke up, lifting his head when he was standing beside the bed.

Luke quickly shushed him before Paul Anka could bark and blow his cover, letting the dog know it was only him and not an intruder. Though, pretty sure, if a intruder was to break in during the night, the dog would probably run and hide considering Paul Anka was a big scaredy cat. They wouldn't tell that to Jaiden, though. And who knows? Maybe since Paul Anka seemed to have taken to the kid, following her around, maybe he would stand up to an intruder to protect his human pup. Dogs did have a natural protective instinct, especially involving their puppies.

With Paul Anka settled and reassured, Luke turned back to the task at hand. Right as he was about to make the exchange, whimpers started, alerting his attention just as he thought they might. Luke tended to Jaiden, first, sitting on the edge of the bed to softly sing to her while rubbing gentle circles along her back.

Paul Anka even helped by gently licking the side of Jaiden's face, sending out occasional whines, himself. With both of them comforting the kid, Jaiden eventually was able to relax and continue sleeping peacefully. Once he knew she was okay, Luke stood up and quickly but carefully switched out the tooth for the money, and carefully slipped out.

His first tooth fairy experience was a success.

The next morning, Luke felt someone tapping him on the arm. He opened his eyes to see Jaiden standing there, still in her pajamas. The neck of her shirt was hanging off her shoulder. Lorelai had tried to offer to get the kid some pajamas that were a lot less baggy on her, but Jaiden told her, she didn't mind it.

Luke yawned. "Hey, Tiger. What's up?"

He hadn't noticed the kid was clutching something in her hand until she pulled the money he had left on her nightstand out, unfolding the five and one dollar bills to show him. "The tooth fairy came like Mommy said she would."

"Yeah?" He smiled, happy for her.

She nodded. "Did you see her when you came in?"

Luke paused, speechless. "What do you mean?"

"I remember hearing you singing when I was having my bad dreams. How come the Sandman didn't come like Mommy said he would?"

"Well, uh…" Great, now he had to come up with a reason for the Sandman's no-show. Lorelai was so much better at this than he was. "Well, it's because…" Luke quickly thought up an excuse that would be believable to a kid. "The Sandman is probably overbooked with hundreds of children and couldn't stop by like he wanted to. The Sandman has to travel all over the world to see lots of children who are having trouble sleeping too and since he's the only Sandman, it can get pretty stressful to cover all of them in one night."

"But if Santa can do it and the tooth fairy can do it, why can't the Sandman do it?" Jaiden questioned, confused.

"Because...uh…" _Lorelai, I could use your help, here!_ Luke continued to crank the gears in his head to think up something else. In fact, he applauses those who can do this right after waking up in the morning. "Well, because the Sandman doesn't have the same kind of magic that, uh, Santa and the tooth fairy has. Since more kids believe in them than they do the Sandman, the Sandman isn't powerful enough and isn't able to fit all of the children into one night like they can."

Jaiden still did not look convinced. "But if the Sandman has less kids that believe in him, shouldn't that make it easier for him to fit them all in one night?" Okay, so this kid was smarter than she gave herself credit for.

"Yes, but even though he doesn't have every single child in the world like they do, he still has a good plenty too much," he quickly added. "he can't match in the same league that Santa and the tooth fairy." The confidence in his voice slowly drained as Luke tried to explain the Sandman's reasoning for not coming to help Jaiden get a peaceful sleep. Thankfully, Jaiden did end up accepting the explanation, believing him.

Later, when Lorelai had gotten up, she helped Jaiden make her own piggy bank out of an empty jar. Lorelai wrote Jaiden's name on the side in permanent marker and told her whenever she received any money from someone, Jaiden could put it in her "piggy bank". It reminded Luke that he actually still owed Jaiden for helping in the diner, the other day.

Liz dropped by around ten, along with Doula, who was really looking forward to spending the day with her favorite uncle. Both of them were also excited to see Jess.

Doula made a mad dash over to her big brother, doing a Superman leap on him as Jess was putting his shoes on. The young man squirmed as his kid sister planted several kisses all over his face, squeezing his neck.

"Doula, please stop," he pleaded with the toddler, who kept right on kissing him.

"Are you coming to ta tea pa'tee?" she asked once Doula finally stopped.

"Uh, no, I can't. I gotta get back to work today." The pouty look she gave her older brother made him squirm some more.

Doula stepped back and stomped her foot, insisting Jess stay.

"Come on, Jess. You hardly visit and your baby sister really wants to spend time with you," Liz tried to convince him to stay.

Jess stood up. "Wish I could, but we have a book signing this afternoon at four and I need to be there. I promise I'll come visit again real soon." That did it. The waterworks was soon turned on.

"Can't you get out of it just this once?" Liz continued, having to talk over her daughter's wails.

Jess looked over towards his uncle as if to ask him for help.

"Uh, Liz, don't you remember?" Luke quickly spoke up. "Since today you're having a one on one time with Jaiden, that means, Doula and I should have some one on one time. Just the two of us." He then went over to lift his crying niece into his arms, to convince his niece of that idea. "Right, Princess?"

Doula stopped crying right away with no tears in sight. Which tells Luke, the kid wasn't even crying in the first place. At least, not real crying. "Bu' I wan' Jess to come to ow tea pa'tee," she continued to pout.

"How about I come visit next weekend," Jess offered. He took a long, deep breath. "And I...will…" he had to force the next few words out. "...play tea party with you." Discomfort was spread over his face as if he wanted someone to shoot him for suggesting that idea. It still took a few moments and it took Doula requesting to dress him up in her toy princess set before the kid was satisfied in letting her brother leave. After Doula was set down on her feet, Jess muttered to Luke, "you totally owe me."

"Hey, I have to do it today. Just think of that," he muttered in return. Neither one was thrilled whenever they let Doula "pretty" them up with her toy jewelry. In fact, both admitted they were glad Jaiden wasn't into the princess and tea party phase like Doula was in.

Before Jess left, Liz had to hug her son and thank him for coming to visit sooner than usual for his sister.

Jaiden came downstairs at that point, dressed in her cowgirl outfit they had gotten the day before.

"Wow, you look wonderful, sweetie," Liz commented. She nudged Jess' arm. "You know, Jay. Your cousin, here, went through a cowboy phase of his own when he was about five."

Jess let out a groan up towards the ceiling, turning beet red in the face. "Can we not talk about this?" he requested. Luke actually felt bad for his nephew. First having to promise his little sister to play tea party next weekend, now having to bring up embarrassing stories from when he was a little kid? That had to be rough.

"Come on," she told him, linking her arm into his and held onto it. "You were so adorable running around the apartment, riding a broomstick like it was a horse and pretending to lasso a cow."

Lorelai, Rory, and April snickered as the guy turned an even darker shade of red.

"Stop it," Jess continued to plead with his mother.

Liz just continued. "Then one day, I take him to a carnival nearby where they were having pony rides. Jess begged me to let him ride one even though the line was over a mile long," she told Jaiden. "We must have waited for, like, an hour or so. Then when we finally get up there, Jess looks up at the pony and suddenly starts crying, and refuses to get on." Liz looked at her son. "That was pretty much the end of the cowboy phase."

"Aw," the girls replied in union.

Jess pretty much looked like a tomato by this point. "It wasn't the pony, itself, okay? The thing kept kicking up dust and getting it into my eyes."

"Yeah, sure it was," Liz chuckled at him, joining in with the other three.

Suddenly, Jaiden blurted out, "Stop it," turning red, herself, afterwards. Timidly, she added, "stop laughing at him. It's not nice."

"We were just having fun with him, sweetie."

But, Jaiden shook her head. "No more, please," she softly whimpered but loud enough they could hear.

Liz gave in for Jaiden. "Okay, Jay. We won't pick on Jess anymore."

She looked up at the woman timidly with pleading eyes.

Liz kissed her son on the cheek one last time before letting him go and turned back to Jaiden. "Are ya ready to go ride some horses, sweetie?"

She nodded.

Liz hugged and kissed her daughter, reminding her to be good for her uncle before they all headed outside.

Jess and Jaiden were one of the last ones out which Luke overheard Jess telling her, thanks. He playfully punched the kid in the arm before making his way towards his own car, waving before sliding in under the wheel.

Luke made sure to thank his nephew before Jess got in his car and drove off. He and Lorelai made sure Jaiden climbed into Liz's van and get fastened in.

Jaiden was still unsure about the whole thing, clinging tightly to her dog.

"You're gonna do fine, sweetheart," Lorelai reassured. "Liz has both of our cell numbers and we both trust her completely. You'll be in great hands."

She nodded, nervously.

Lorelai tipped her hat up and reached in to kiss Jaiden on the side of her forehead. "Love you, sweetheart."

"Love you too, Mommy," she replied softly.

Lorelai smiled at that. She could never get tired of hearing that. She moved so Luke could take his turn, who reached in and kissed her on the cheek. Jaiden squeezed him even tighter, not wanting to let go.

Truthfully, Lorelai couldn't help feel a little jealous of the close bond the two seemed to have. Why she felt that way, Lorelai wasn't sure. She got to have that close bond with Rory. It was only fair Luke could experience that feeling when he had to miss out with having one with April.

Lorelai listened as Luke leaned in there on his knee, coaching Jaiden that she could do this without him there and saw how much the kid seemed to be holding on to every word.

Eventually, Luke had to pull himself away, giving Jaiden one last kiss good-bye. "Love ya, Tiger," he told her.

"Love you too, Daddy," she also told him before Luke slid the door closed.

He moved over to lean on the passenger seat's door where the window was rolled down. "It'll help some if you put the radio on a country station."

"Come on, Luke. I hated it whenever Dad played that crappy music," Liz protested.

Luke gave his sister a stern look. "Lorelai and the other girls doesn't like country either, but they did it so Jaiden would feel at ease with us."

Lorelai piped in at that moment. "And eventually, once she's comfortable with ya, she'll share the radio."

"You don't have to," Luke assured her. "But it does help."

"Okay, fine. I guess we could listen to some country music." Liz twisted around to reassure Jaiden she was okay with listening to her music.

Doula hurried over to wave to her mom before grabbing onto her uncle's hand to try and pull him towards the house. Luke had to wave at them as he allowed his niece to drag him away.

While Jaiden spent time with Liz, Luke spent some much needed time with his niece, who immediately started setting up her tea party. Lorelai had gotten a small kid's table for whenever Doula stayed over. The little girl set out her whole tea cup set and placed her stuffed unicorn and baby doll in two of the chairs, making Luke sit between them. He at least insisted on sitting on the floor instead of a small princess chair.

Lorelai had gone back upstairs to finish getting ready since she was going to go check in at the inn for a few hours. When she returned back downstairs, Luke was wearing a couple beaded necklaces, rings on his pinky fingers since those were the only fingers the toy rings could fit on, toy clip-on earrings, and a plastic tiara on his head. Apparently, baseball caps weren't allowed at this fancy, royal tea party.

Luke was taking a pretend drink from his tiny tea cup, making sure to hold his pinky out, when Lorelai came over. Before she could get a word out, he told her, "Not a word."

Lorelai busted out laughing. "But you're so pretty, Lucille."

Luke was staring his wife down, not at all liking that she was loving this moment.

"Come ha' tea, 'unt Lo'lai," Doula invited her.

"Oh, I wish I could, sweetheart. But I have to go to the inn for a few hours, but maybe we can have a tea party later when I get home. How does that sound?"

"O-tay," she replied.

She went over to kiss the kid on top of the head and kissed Luke, good bye. "Have fun, girls," she called as Lorelai headed towards the door, snickering some more.

The tea party lasted for a while until Doula wanted to play something else. The kid had come quite prepared to play with her uncle for the day, including her _My Little Pony_ set. She divided up her ponies among the both of them, making sure to keep her favorites and let Luke have the rest. Using her blocks, they built homes for the ponies and brushed their manes and tails, playing until lunch time which Luke made mac and cheese. He tried to offer to let Doula help but unless cake or cookies were involved, the little girl could care less, and that was mostly because she loved licking the spoon the best.

After lunch, Luke put on her _My Little Pony_ DVD Doula had brought with her, hoping the kid would fall asleep. Instead, he was the one who fell asleep and was awakened loudly when the DVD was over.

"You falled a'eep," Doula pointed out when he awake.

Luke rubbed at his eyes in one hand, trying to fully wake up. He glanced at his watch to see it was a quarter after two. Liz said they would be back around three.

"We go to ta part?" she asked. He knew Doula meant park.

He sat up on the edge of the couch, stretching. "Your mom and Jaiden's gonna be back in a little bit."

Doula moaned. "I want to go to ta part."

"Maybe all four of us can. I'm sure Jaiden might want to come with us," he suggested.

"J'n weird," she said.

"Hey, that's not nice to call someone weird."

"She is. J'n no want to do n'ee ting," Doula shook her head. "An' no share her toys."

"Doula, we've talked about this, remember?" he told her, firm but gentle. "Jaiden's just shy and nervous around people. She wasn't given a very good life like you have and have been hurt by people who should have been taking care of her."

"J'n's mommy an' daddy hur' her?"

"I'm afraid so, sweetie."

Doula gave him a puzzled look. "Why?"

He shrugged. "I don't know why. They just didn't know how to be a good mom and dad, I guess." Luke reached over and lifted his niece onto his leg. "And so because Jaiden was hurt by the ones who should have been taking care of her, it makes her afraid of people. So we have to show her that we're nice and will love her and take care of her."

"But why no you get a baby? I like babies. I have tis many." Doula held up all five of her fingers. Though, Luke was pretty sure she had more than that. Doula had several dolls at home.

"Well, Jaiden just stood out to us more than a baby did. I knew the moment I saw her, I wanted Jaiden to be a part of our family."

"Will J'n p'ay wi' me at ta part?"

"Maybe. If you ask her, nicely."

"I hope so," she nodded.

Soon, three o'clock came around and they heard Liz pull up. Luke wasn't sure who was more excited: him or Doula? Though, he put up a front for his niece's sake, on the inside, he was anxiously thinking about how Jaiden was doing.

Doula hurried outside. "Mommy!" The kid sprinted to meet Liz who scooped her up as she and Jaiden were walking towards the house.

When Luke came down the steps, Jaiden sprinted the rest of the way towards him, who scooped her up.

"Hey, Tiger. How'd it go?"

Jaiden held a thumb's up. "I got on the horse."

"Yeah?"

Liz came over, carrying Doula on her side. "Jay was wonderful. She wasn't quite ready to trot yet, but the instructor said she can try next time if she wanted to come back."

"Aunt Liz held my hand for a little bit," Jaiden also added.

"She did, huh?"

She nodded.

"There were some tears, but that's okay. Jay was still able to get on." Liz snickered a little. Luke knew she was referring to Jess, but wasn't going to say anything in case it upset Jaiden again. The kid really seemed to not like anyone picking on another person. "The lady says Jay's a natural born horse rider. Right, Jay?"

Luke couldn't help feel so proud. Though, he wasn't fond of horses, or any animal in general. He was glad to see Jaiden doing well and have all of these great opportunities for her. "Doula mentioned wanting to go to the park. Would you like to go?"

Jaiden looked away as if to think on it.

"I want you to come, J'n," Doula spoke up.

The older girl looked up towards the smaller one. "Okay," she told Luke.

"You wanna go?"

She nodded. "But, can I take a shower and change first?"

"I mean, you're probably gonna get sweaty and dirty running around at the park," he pointed out with a shrug.

Jaiden considered that and agreed to shower later.

Luke set her down on her feet, letting the girls know he was grabbing his wallet and keys. They also made sure to pack up all of the toys Doula had brought, into the van.

Jaiden wanted to bring Paul Anka along. Luke was fine with it, but since Liz was driving, she had to ask her if it was okay. Patting Liz on the arm, Jaiden asked, "Can Paul Anka come?"

"Sure he can, sweetie."

"Thank you," she said politely, afterwards.

"No problem, Jay. Come on, everyone."

Luke made sure Jaiden got back in, on her side, while Liz made sure Doula got into her car seat, strapping her in. Paul Anka sat on the floor, between the girls. That is until the van was in motion and had to laid down instead. Luke took the front seat.

On the way to the park, the girls watched _Barney_ , torturing Luke in the process. It was nice to hear Jaiden sing along softly, along with Doula.

At the park, Jaiden automatically clung to Luke's side while Doula made a beeline for the playground, already making a friend within the first minute. Luke offered to push Jaiden on the swing for now, taking her over to where one wasn't being used.

Pulling her back towards him, Luke gently nudged Jaiden forward and began giving her repeated pushes every time she swung backwards.

A boy about Jaiden's age was playing on the swing next to hers but on his stomach, twisting his until he couldn't go any further before taking off. Just watching him made Luke feel dizzy.

When the boy stopped, Luke scolded him. "Hey, kid. You wanna use the swing the right way? You're gonna break it, and then nobody will be able to use the swing."

He looked up at him. "No, I won't."

"Yeah, I'm sure you will," Luke replied, matter-of-factly.

"Will not."

"Will to."

"Will not."

"Will to."

Finally, the boy stuck his tongue out and gave Luke, a raspberry, before turning away to ignore him. Instead, the boy focused on Jaiden. "My name is David. What's your name?"

Luke saw Jaiden close up and felt tensed when he gave her another push. "Jaiden's a little nervous to talk," he explained for her.

"Oh, my little brother's shy too," David replied. "So I know how you feel. Want to play on the slide, Jaiden?" Jaiden's foot dropped in the sand to slow down. When she came to a complete stop, she looked back over her shoulder at her foster dad.

"Go on," Luke encouraged.

Timidly, Jaiden stood up from the swing, nodding her head at the boy. Now standing with him and realizing the average height of an eight-year-old, it made Luke see just how small Jaiden really was.

David led Jaiden over to the main playground equipment where the two kids climbed up the curved ladder. When he got up there, David turned around to make sure Jaiden got up alright. Keeping a watchful eye on her, Luke made his way over to where Liz was watching Doula from a bench on the edge of the sand. He had Paul Anka follow him so the dog didn't get ran over by a bunch of screaming kids running around. Paul Anka maneuvered underneath the bench, under where Luke sat but where the dog could keep a watchful eye on Jaiden.

Liz broke Luke out of his thoughts, grabbing his attention. "Did I hear you get into an argument with a kid?"

"Kid was twisting the swing around," he tried to point out.

"I'm sure the swing would have been fine."

"No, eventually, it will wear down the chains until they finally snap, sending some random kid flying who would probably be swinging the right way like they should be." Luke folded his arms in front of him, turning back to watch Jaiden, who was now sliding down the slide after David.

"Luke, just let the kids have fun. I'm sure the maintenance guy can fix it if it does break. That's what he's there for, after all."

But Luke wasn't about to let it go. Having a kid and a niece of his own still in the playground age, made the guy nervous about stuff like that. He went into a rant about safe playground use and the dangers of not following the rules.

Liz just shook her head at her brother's protectiveness and ranting. "Anyways," she eventually changed the subject. "I think you're doing a terrific job with Jaiden."

"You do?" he asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. Jay's a great kid. She was real scared when the lady brought the horse over. I thought it was gonna be a repeat back to when Jess tried to ride the pony. But she did it. She stepped onto the tree stump and climbed right up."

Luke stared at his sister, impressed. "All by herself?"

"Well, I mean, I held onto her while she climbed up," Liz admitted. "But she still did it. We walked the horse around. Took things really slow at first, then the lady went a little faster. We even got to the point where she wanted me to let go and do it on her own. The lady asked to see if they could try at a trot, but Jay wasn't ready for that. On the way home, I asked if she wanted to go back next Sunday and she said yes. Well, not this next Sunday, since it'll be Father's day and the lady says she'll be closed for the holiday. But if she wanted to come back for another lesson, we could. If you and Lorelai are okay with that."

"Yeah, definitely. If Jaiden's enjoying it," Luke said. "She'll be going away to camp the week I'm taking April on our boat trip, and there's supposed to be horse riding as one of the activities."

"You're sending her to camp?" she questioned.

"It's one of the foster care events her caseworker's office does for the kids," he explained. "All of the kids have to go."

"How does Jaiden feel about that?"

He held a shrug for a moment. "She's nervous, of course. But, I guess her other foster mom is gonna be her cabin counselor, so she'll know someone, at least."

Liz nodded, searching out Doula. "That's good." She spotted her, taking turns on the duck spring toy with another little girl around Doula's age.

"We were planning on having everyone write to her while Jaiden was away."

"Yeah, we'll be happy to write to her," she told him, looking over at Luke.

"I'm sure she'll like that." Luke turned back to watch Jaiden, who was sitting on the curved ladder while David hung from one of the bars, repeatedly pulling himself up. By the look of things, it seemed like the kids were talking. Or David was, at least. Jaiden was nodding or shaking her head.

"She sure has come a long way from the kid up in the tree," he heard Liz say.

Luke glanced at his sister before turning back to the kid. "She sure has." He couldn't help smile, proud of the person Jaiden was slowly becoming.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I'm gonna be taking a break from this story for a while to focus on my other stories, especially with _A Father's Love_. So if you don't see any updates for this for a while, that's why. I probably will even work on my Jess story with his kid, Piper.**


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Monday morning brought sadness to the Danes-Gilmore household when Rory had to leave to head back to work. Her and Lorelai weren't the only ones sad to see her go, either. Jaiden also did not want to see Rory go.

"I have to, Jaiden. I'd love to be able to stay, but I have to be back at work, tomorrow," she explained to the little girl.

Jaiden gave the most heartbreaking look that could make a stone melt as she stared up at Rory, her eyes glistening with tears trying to make their escape.

"I'll come back to visit soon, I promise," Rory assured. "Our town's fourth of July picnic is just right around the corner and I wouldn't dare miss that." She gave Jaiden a kind smile.

"But, won't I be at camp?" Jaiden asked, in a worried tone.

"No, hun, camp's not until after the fourth of July," Lorelai assured her that time.

Jaiden looked between her foster mom and foster sister. "How long until you'll be back?"

Rory answered. "About two weeks, maybe two and a half. But I'm sure time will fly right by and be here before you know it."

"Hey, maybe you can stop by for a visit, this upcoming weekend," Lorelai suggested. "A couple days without ya is better than none." The suggestion was actually for both Jaiden and herself.

"I can't this weekend. I'm spending it in Boston with Dad and Gigi, for Father's day," she said.

"Oh, that's great," Lorelai praised, happy Rory was spending time with her dad and sister.

"Yeah, both Dad and I thought it would be a perfect time for me to come visit."

"And it'll do all of you some good, too."

"Yeah," she agreed with a nod. "I'm really looking forward to it. Gigi has a recital Saturday night, that she's been really excited about for me to see, every time I call, and on Sunday, we're gonna go to lunch before I have to drive back home. What about you guys? Got any plans for Father's day, yourselves?"

Lorelai shrugged. "Not that I know of. Probably just a weekend at home."

"That's always nice, too." Rory smiled between her mom and foster sister. "Well, I should probably head out."

"Okay, kid." Mother and daughter hugged one last time before Rory turned and kneeled to Jaiden's level to give her, one last hug. "Make sure you call us tonight to make sure you got home alright," Lorelai added as Rory slid into the driver's seat of her car.

"I will," she assured. With one last wave, Rory pulled away and drove off.

Lorelai stood there as she watched her oldest drive away. Every time Rory comes to visit, it seemed to go by way too fast, and the time in between the next time she visits, doesn't come fast enough.

Finally, after Rory was gone, Lorelai spoke. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's get to the inn." She nudged the little girl towards the jeep. Pushing her seat down first, Lorelai let Jaiden climb into the back before sliding in under the wheel.

Since it was Monday again, Jaiden had yet another appointment with her therapist. So, Lorelai figured it would make the most sense if Jaiden came to the inn with her and they could leave right from there. Plus, it had been a while since Jaiden came to the inn and the kid had never seen the rest of the place. Not to mention, there was something there Lorelai knew Jaiden would like, having not realized it till now.

Despite still being more comfortable in shorts and a T-shirt, Jaiden also still wore her new boots and hat.

"What is she wearing?" Michel asked when they had arrived, in his usual irritated monotone, pointing out the fact the kid wasn't matching at all. At least he kept his voice down so only Lorelai could hear him.

"Her own style, that's what. Now, be nice," Lorelai scolded him as she looked at the day's ledger, to make sure all was the way it should be and asked him if there had been any problems that morning. Michel filled her in on everything before Lorelai headed towards the kitchen, to check in with Sookie and to grab another cup of coffee. She had Jaiden follow, who was of course clutching Stanley in her arms.

As soon as they neared the door to the kitchen, Lorelai could hear the woman yelling at the other chefs. She made sure to reassure the kid, Sookie was completely harmless and a sweetheart. Outside of cooking, that is.

Since Sookie was busy, Lorelai slipped around to the coffee maker while leading Jaiden, who was eyeing the short, round, loud woman carefully. She poured herself a cup of coffee and grabbed some milk to not only pour in, but also poured Jaiden a glass as well. Of milk, of course. Pretty sure Luke wouldn't be too happy if she tried to let Jaiden try coffee.

While the girls drank their beverages, they watched Sookie until she finally noticed they were there.

"I swear. It's so hard to find good help these days," she mumbled, coming over. It was then she noticed Lorelai. "Lorelai, hi," she greeted cheerfully, doing a complete one-eighty.

"Hey, Sookie. Everything alright in here?" Lorelai returned the greeting.

"No. Nobody knows how to stir the way you're supposed to." Sookie raised her voice loud enough for the whole kitchen staff to hear.

"I'm sure they're trying their best," she tried to stick up for everyone.

Sookie scoffed and scolded one guy who was stirring too fast. Thankfully, Lorelai stepped in and calmed the woman down before somebody got stabbed with a cutting knife.

When Sookie was calm, Lorelai brought attention to the kid who had been hiding behind her legs. "Look who came to the inn with me, today." Though, the kid was able to fully hide, parts of her hat were peeking out from behind Lorelai's legs.

Sookie gasped happily. "Is that Jaiden?"

Lorelai smiled behind her. "It sure is."

The little girl timidly peeked from around her foster mom, to look up at Sookie.

"Hi, sweetie," Sookie greeted, bending forward a little. "Long time, no see."

Jaiden suddenly ducked back behind Lorelai's legs.

"So, she's spending the day here?" she asked Lorelai.

"At least the rest of the morning. We have to leave for Hartford around noon, for her therapy appointment, and I just thought it made sense for her to come with me so we could head straight there," Lorelai explained.

"Makes sense. Hey," Sookie perked up in realization, "maybe I can fix up a super special lunch for her before you leave."

"That sounds good. Just remember to keep her portion sizes to the minimum like we talked about. Jaiden still doesn't eat as much as the rest of us." Sookie tried reasoning about that, never one to ever make small portions, but Lorelai remained firm and she agreed to keep everything small in portions.

Once Lorelai finished her rounds and made sure things were running smoothly, she secretly asked their groundskeeper, who was also in charge of the Dragonfly's horses, if he could saddle one for Jaiden. Once Cletus was ready, Lorelai asked Jaiden to close her eyes and to keep them shut until she said otherwise, making sure to point out she was teasing her when it sounded like Lorelai was being mean.

Lorelai led Jaiden outside, guiding her along the way which actually was a good thing to practice trust between them, making sure to let Jaiden know when there was a step or two. Once they neared the horse, Lorelai halted the kid and gave the say to open her eyes.

The minute her eyes were open, they grew larger in surprise as Jaiden stared up at the four-legged animal.

"Sweetheart, this is Cletus. This is one of the inn's horses we have here for our guests," Lorelai introduced. "Cletus, this is Jaiden."

Of course the horse did not respond, being a horse and all.

Lorelai rubbed a hand along his neck and mane. "Cletus, here, is very gentle. We usually let the kids ride him," she explained to Jaiden. "So, how about it? Wanna ride?"

Jaiden hesitated for a while until finally giving a timid nod.

Leading Cletus over to a block of wood for Jaiden to step onto, Lorelai helped her climb up onto his back. Stanley, they had to leave inside, in Lorelai's office.

Once Jaiden was on, she took hold of the reins in both of her hands. Lorelai had to remind her to relax when she saw the kid had tensed up. But afterwards, she led Cletus around the property, taking things slow for the kid. They walked around for fifteen minutes before having to let the guests have a turn. Being summer, the inn was their busiest and the horses were one of their popular amenities.

Before they left for Jaiden's appointment, Sookie indeed made her a special lunch of baked mac and cheese which even Jaiden enjoyed. Afterwards, Lorelai took Jaiden to her appointment to meet with Melody. Though, she wasn't much up for talking about what had happened last week and how the trial went, yet, so she spent most of the time coloring while Lorelai filled Melody in, giving the kid time before she was ready to share.

On the way home, Lorelai got a call from Norman, who explained his friend who was supposed to be helping with what to do about Jaiden's grandfather, was swamped all this week and wasn't able to meet with him, delaying things longer in starting the next step.

"Mommy," Lorelai heard Jaiden utter from the back seat once she had put her phone away.

"Yeah, sweetheart?" She glanced up into the rearview mirror at the little girl.

"Can I tell you my idea I have?"

Lorelai smiled. "What's your idea, sweetheart?"

Jaiden rubbed at her arm. "Um, I want to make a comic book," she said.

"You mean when you grow up?"

Jaiden shook her head. "A pretend one for now. Like the one you make in school but it's a comic book instead."

"That sounds fun," Lorelai said. "We can get some yarn and a hole-punch to hold the pages together, and decorate the cover with glitter and maybe a lace border."

Jaiden stared at her foster mom. "Glitter and lace don't belong on a comic book," she pointed out.

"Why not? It can make it look nice."

But Jaiden shook her head. "It's supposed to look cool, not nice. Glitter and lace aren't cool."

"Okay, fine. We won't use glitter or lace," Lorelai gave in, not wanting to insist on the lace and glitter in fear of the kid sinking back into herself.

At home, Jaiden took all of her drawing supplies up to her tree house and remained up there until it was time to come down for dinner. In fact, whenever she was home all that week, Jaiden held herself up in her tree house, and didn't want to say anything more about her comic book. That is until Sunday rolled around. She did come down when Celia came by for her weekly visit, checking in and brought the list of supplies Jaiden will need for camp. It also had a list of things not to bring, such as electronics or cell phones.

Luke had questioned why cellphones would even be on a list for a kid's camp. "Some of our older kids have cellphones now, either from their families or using their allowances to buy those minutes cards," she explained.

"And that's okay?" Lorelai was the one to ask.

She shrugged. "It depends on the caseworker. If my kids are allowed to have unsupervised calls with their families, I don't see any harm in them having one as long as they can pay the bill or buy minutes." Curious, Lorelai asked if Jaiden could have a phone if she and Luke paid for one, in case Jaiden ever needed to get a hold of them for whatever reason, but Celia pointed out it might not be such a good idea for Jaiden to have access to a cellphone in case Howard finds out and tries to contact her.

The night before father's day, April had told Luke not to leave his room until she called him when he woke up. So, Luke got some time to sleep in a couple hours longer. It was something the guy really needed, actually. So when he did finally wake up, Luke was well rested than he's been in a long time. Though, even April couldn't hide the smell that filled up the whole house and Luke had a clue as to what they were up to.

When Luke was finally able to leave his room, he walked into the kitchen to find all three of his girls had made him breakfast for a change. Well, Lorelai worked on the toast and set the table while April and Jaiden worked on the scrambled eggs and turkey bacon.

Being told to sit at the head of the table, Luke did as he was told and was the first to be served.

"You girls didn't have to do all this," he told them, modestly when April handed Jaiden the plate to take to him.

"We wanted to," she said. "That's what I wanted to talk with Jaiden about that night. I figured this would be just as needed for Jaiden, as it is for you."

"Well, I appreciate it."

Slowly and carefully, Jaiden was making her way over to Luke, holding the plate of food in both hands. When she was close enough, he tried to take the plate from her, but Jaiden shook her head at him, wanting to set it on the table for him. So Luke took his hands back and smiled when the little girl managed to set the plate down without dropping or spilling anything.

"Thanks, Tiger," he thanked her with a smile.

"You're welcome, Daddy," she replied and hurried over to whisper something to April.

"Sure," she replied.

Suddenly, Jaiden dashed from the kitchen, unexpectedly, and rushed up the stairs, returning shortly with a flat wrapped present and held it out for Luke.

"For me?" Luke took the flat present from her. He tore a finger into one of the folded, taped flaps, tearing the rest open. Inside was the homemade comic book Jaiden had been working on, all week. On the cover, Luke was drawn as a superhero in a soaring pose. Despite the superhero costume, Luke still had his baseball cap, it was just a different color, because, _duh! Secret identity_ , when he asked her about it. Underneath, it said _The Adventures of Dinerman_.

The comic book was still held together by yarn, hole-punched so the yarn could be tied.

"Wow, you made this for me?"

Jaiden nodded. "You have a team just like the X-men do, like Javagirl, who can melt things with her coffee powers, and Bookworm, who can read people's minds. There's also Liz-Ard, who can control lizards and snakes, and The Storm, who is kind of like Storm from X-men, because I couldn't think of anything for Grandma. She can cause storms and shoot lightning out of her eyes," she explained while Luke skimmed through it for now. Luke noticed she had made April's glasses has part of her costume, like Cyclops from her X-men comic books.

The comic book still looked like a kid had made it, the drawings were still pretty good. Luke couldn't help notice the bad guy, Dr. Poo-Poo Head, looking awfully familiar. The fight scenes looked really cool, too. This kid really did have a talent, that's for sure. Not that there was ever any doubt.

Wrapping an arm around her, Luke gave Jaiden a tight hug and kissed the side of her head underneath her hat.

"Thank you, Tiger. I love it," he smirked at her.

"You do?"

"You bet. I'm gonna hold on to this forever even after you're a famous cartoon artist."

Jaiden smiled at that.

The family sat down to eat. Afterwards, Luke finally took Jaiden out to teach her how to ride a bike, making sure she was wearing her helmet, along with her elbow and knee pads. Lorelai and April also came along, to cheer Jaiden on and to give her a hand up whenever she fell.

It took a few tries until Jaiden was able to ride on her own as Luke and the other girls ran next to her. Just in case, Luke had brought along his toolbox in case something had come loose, but it didn't seem to be needed as the bike ran smoothly the whole time.

Later, Luke played hockey with both of his girls. April offered to play goalie, using his old baseball mitt to catch the ball while Lorelai watched and kept score. On the way home, they stopped at Sniffy's for dinner.

Since it was Luke's special day, Lorelai willingly allowed him to pick what they watched on TV that night. Though, she sat through a baseball game with him and their girls, it didn't stop her from asking a bunch of questions he willingly answered.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Don't get too excited. I only returned to this story briefly because father's day (the day I am uploading this) snuck up on me this year, reminding me, I had a father's day chapter in mind, and what better time than today to write this? Sorry I haven't been updating this story lately. Partly because of wanting to focus on other stories, mostly because of writer's block on how to continue the "Howard" saga. It'll probably be a while before I update again. So, again, I apologize.**

 **On another note, in response to a review from the guest reviewer, "Fantine": Actually, April and her mom doesn't exist in my "A Father's Love" story, so Luke still only has one kid. It didn't make sense to give two unknown kids to him. But hey, that's cool. I understand not everybody will be interested. There are certain stories I don't read either.  
**


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Luke and Lorelai were finally able to meet with Norman's friend, Kenneth Grier, who was a prosecutor that could help finally bring in some justice. Kenneth invited them to come meet at his office to discuss things. Jaiden came along, staying close to Luke's side like glue while clutching Stanley in her arm. Norman had already filled him in on their situation so Luke and Lorelai didn't have much to bring him up to speed. Though, Lorelai did more of the talking than Luke did. He put in a few words, here and there.

Despite the abuse happening five years ago, Kenneth was willing to help. He walked them through the process and what would be expected. Luke was the one to quickly point out, Jaiden would be gone for a week in July at summer camp, so they would have to work around that week she would be gone, in terms of scheduling. The first portion of what could be a long process was then scheduled for the seventh at ten AM, two weeks from then.

Later, that same week, was the concert in Hartford, Luke and Lorelai wanted to take Jaiden to. Lorelai bought the tickets online but both of them pitched in to snag three tickets. Not being a country fan, April figured she would go spend the weekend with some of her old friends for a couple nights while Lorelai and Luke took Jaiden.

They didn't tell Jaiden where they were going, not until on the drive to the concert hall where Rascal Flatts were performing. They made a detour to take April to her friend's house in Woodbridge, first before heading for Hartford.

"Do you wanna know where we're going, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked, teasingly, of Jaiden as they neared Hartford's city limits.

She saw the kid nod her head, in the rearview mirror. "Where?"

"Well, we are on our way to see a concert. Have you ever been to a concert?"

Jaiden shook her head. "What's that?"

Lorelai glanced over at Luke. They had a feeling this would be Jaiden's first concert. She turned back to the kid. "It's where bands play their music on stage for their fans."

"So, it's a show?"

"That's right," she nodded at her.

"What kind of show are we seeing?"

Lorelai grinned. "Well, who's your favorite band?"

Her eyes widened when Lorelai asked Jaiden who her favorite band was. "Are we going to see Rascal Flatts, Mommy?"

The grin grew even bigger. "You bet we are."

However, the next reaction was not what neither one of them would have expected. It was Luke who noticed Jaiden was tearing up, looking back over his shoulder.

He reached back to cup his hand on her knee, affectionately. "What's wrong, Tiger?"

They saw her shake her head. "Nothing, D-daddy." Jaiden sniffed in. "I'm happy."

Lorelai couldn't help smile at the little girl's response. "Aw, sweetheart." Reaching back there, she too brushed her hand along Jaiden's knee.

Once they arrived, Luke was the first to notice how anxious the kid was, tugging on his hand as they were waiting for Lorelai, who was still sitting in the jeep, looking for her lipstick. In fact, he had never seen the kid this anxious before. At least, not in a good way.

Luke kept trying to hurry the woman along, as well as, settle Jaiden down. He had more luck with the kid than he did his own wife. Finally, Lorelai was able to find her lipstick and apply it before getting out of the jeep and making her way around where the other two were waiting. They then made their way inside where everyone else was piling inside. There was a waiting period where they had to wait in line to present their tickets Lorelai had printed out which took another twenty-five minutes. Since it was short notice getting the tickets, their seats weren't that good, but wasn't bad either. They were in the third row of the second section towards the middle.

Before finding their seats, though, Lorelai offered to buy Jaiden a concert tour shirt with Rascal Flatts on the front with the dates on the back of all the states the band was playing in. Lorelai also got one for herself just for the heck of it. It was great getting to wear matching shirts with Jaiden, wanting to do something with the kid that she had done with Rory when she was growing up. She tried asking if Luke wanted a shirt to complete a matching set, but he declined. Besides the shirt, Lorelai also got Jaiden Rascal Flatts' newest CD, the tour was promoting, along with one of their older albums with the songs Jaiden liked.

Afterwards, they moved off to the side where Lorelai offered to help Jaiden pull the shirt on, over her other shirt, having Luke hold Jaiden's hat.

"Hey, we match," Lorelai told her once she had hers on. "We're twins, tonight."

Jaiden smiled up at that. Though, hers was a small, the shirt was still a little big on her.

While Lorelai and Jaiden went to find their seats, Luke headed off to the snackbar to grab drinks. Lorelai insisted on getting nachos, too, with extra cheese. The auditorium was packed and noisy as everyone chatted in preparation for the show to begin. Jaiden sat in the seat between her foster parents, which Lorelai set her purse in Luke's seat to hold it for him, even though there was assigned seating. It was just to play it safe of any seat stealers.

"Are you excited, Jaiden?" she asked over the noise, her head bent lower so Jaiden could hear her.

Jaiden nodded while trying to contain a smile that was trying to worm its way through.

Lorelai was holding the concert program in her hands. "Looks like they have another country singer that's gonna open the show for them, so they won't be coming out right away when the concert starts. Okay?"

Again, she nodded. "Who is it?"

"It says, it's Darius Rucker. Do you know who that is?"

"Um, I think so." Lorelai had to move even closer when she couldn't hear Jaiden answer. "I think that's the one who sings, _Alright_ ," Jaiden repeated for her foster mom.

"Oh, okay," she nodded.

About that time, Luke finally found them, carrying their drinks and the nachos. Lorelai took the nachos from him so he could pass out their drinks that were tucked in his arms. Luke had gotten a beer for him and Lorelai, each, and water for all three of them, opening Jaiden's for her. He also handed back Lorelai's purse for her, who thanked him as Luke sat down.

The concert indeed started with the country singer, Darius Rucker coming out and singing a few of his songs, including, _Alright_ as Jaiden had thought. Luke held Jaiden during _Alright_ so she could see when the crowd got on their feet. Lorelai offered her the nachos. Jaiden pulled out a chip that was mostly covered in melted cheese, holding her other hand underneath like Lorelai told her to, so the cheese wouldn't spill on herself or Luke.

Though they enjoyed the country singer, Darius actually ended up making stone-cold Luke shed a few tears while singing his _It Won't Be Like This For Long_ song, reminding him of both of his girls, especially Jaiden. The crowd had sat during that song when things settled down.

Jaiden noticed and tapped him on the arm to get his attention.

Luke lowered his head.

"What's wrong?" she whispered in his ear.

He just smiled and wrapped an arm around the little girl, reaching his head underneath her hat to kiss her cheek. "Love you, Tiger."

Jaiden smiled back. "Love you too, Daddy," she replied in his ear.

There was a thirty minute intermission before Rascal Flatts started their main show. Lorelai asked Jaiden if she needed to use the restroom. All three went in search of the closest one to their section.

"Are you having fun?" Lorelai asked while they waited in line for the ladies' room.

Jaiden nodded, holding Stanley to her chest.

She tried to keep the conversation going. "That guy was pretty good."

Jaiden gave another nod in affirmation.

When there was a stall available for them, Lorelai let Jaiden go first, snagging the one beside it, letting her know where she was. Jaiden didn't come out of hers until Lorelai did, sticking close to her since Luke wasn't around. Once they had washed their hands, the girls made their way back to their seats where Luke was waiting for them and finished off the nachos for the remainder of the intermission.

Eventually, the lights dimmed once again and Rascal Flatts finally came out, singing their song, _Summer Nights_. With the crowd back on their feet, this time, Luke kneeled down and let Jaiden climb onto his shoulders since she was light enough while the intro video played on the big screen at the back of the stage of several iconic American scenes, including John F. Kennedy's inauguration and the famous line from a _Superman_ cartoon. Once the video ended, that's when Rascal Flatts appeared on stage.

At first, Jaiden held on tight to Luke's head. As the band played and Gary, the lead singer, sang, encouraging the crowd to clap their hands together, Lorelai nudged her elbow into her side as she clapped along. It took a moment before Jaiden timidly let go and joined in as Luke, too, clapped his hands with them.

Throughout the evening, Jaiden seemed to enjoy herself more and more as the concert progressed. Everyone remained on their feet for the duration of the concert, cheering and singing along. The guys would even have the crowd finish a line for them. Jaiden wasn't loud like the rest were but Lorelai could see her mouth moving as if she, too, was singing along. She got the kid to throw her hands up in the air above her head a few times as the crowd cheered. Jaiden especially grew excited whenever one of the guys sang her favorites.

Part way through _My Wish_ , Lorelai started singing along like she was singing the song to Jaiden, which really was her wish for the kid.

There were some more tears, only this time, from Jaiden, herself when they were singing _What Hurts the Most_. Reaching up, Lorelai caught a lone tear that was drifting down her cheek, wiping it away. Jaiden shared a look with her foster mom as Lorelai smiled for her. She returned it.

For the whole rest of the concert, Jaiden sat atop Luke's shoulders. He had to shift her a couple times but he was fine letting her stay up there since they were far from the stage. She released happy tears during _God Bless the Broken Road_ , now that it was her most favorite song of the band's. Nobody around them knew just how much the song meant to the kid as Luke and Lorelai held each other and held onto Jaiden while they sang it. Even Luke realized how much the song spoke to his own life with past relationships that eventually led to meeting and falling in love with the woman who also drove him crazy with her coffee and antics, and had to give her a kiss.

"I love you," he told her, softly.

"I love you too," she returned and rested her head against Jaiden's leg. She held onto both of them.

Luke held a loving arm around his wife while holding his youngest little girl's right hand in his, holding a kiss to it as the song finished.

Towards the end of the show, Darius came back out to sing a few songs with them before they ended.

Lorelai looked up to see a disappointed look on the kid's face. "Aw, you're sad it's over, sweetheart?" She rubbed a comforting hand on her leg.

Jaiden leaned over, motioning for her foster mom to come closer.

She moved closer, giving Jaiden, her ear.

"They didn't sing _Life is a Highway_." Just as Jaiden said that, the crowd started screaming and cheering loudly. The girls looked over to see Rascal Flatts had returned, along with Darius Rucker, for an encore, singing _Life is a Highway_.

Lorelai smiled as the frown on her face turned upside down and Jaiden threw her hands up in the air on her own, this time and sang along. When they finished, Jaiden clapped when one of the guys told them to cheer for Darius Rucker before giving their own final closing. She even waved, even if they couldn't see it, which Lorelai got a picture of. Throughout the evening, Lorelai had been snagging a picture or two, wanting to capture every great moment of her youngest's first concert experience.

After the show ended, Luke finally set Jaiden down on her feet, stretching his arms and back out while Lorelai made sure to grab their things and trash, handing Stanley to Jaiden.

While they piled out of the auditorium with everyone, Luke carried Jaiden on his side. Sometime during the trip out to the jeep, she rested her head on his shoulder, clutching Stanley in one arm. He set her down to open his door and to fold the seat down so she could climb inside the back.

"Did you like the show, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked when her and Luke were in their seats, shutting their door and starting the engine.

Jaiden nodded with a big, ol' smile on her face, holding her head against the back of the seat. "It was the best night of my life," she stated, proudly.

"Yeah?"

She nodded some more. "I liked the first guy, too. He was good, too."

"Yeah, he was good," Lorelai agreed, though it was kind of a lie since it was the guy from the old band, Hootie and the Blowfish, a band her and Rory did not like at all. "Here, let me see one of your CDs and I'll put it on for you." She held her hand back. Jaiden handed her the newest one of Rascal Flatts' albums. Lorelai took it, ripping the clear wrapping off and put the CD in the CD player. It started automatically which she adjusted the volume, making sure Jaiden could hear it.

On the drive home, Lorelai stole a peek at the kid through the rearview mirror. She smiled when she saw Jaiden had fallen asleep, her head drooping off to the side against the back of the seat. Reaching over, she playfully gave Luke's arm a smack to get his attention. He started to protest of the gesture when Lorelai motioned her head back towards the kid. He twisted around to see for himself.

"I never understood why kids slept like that," Luke had to rant about, making Lorelai roll her eyes as she drove. "It looks uncomfortable just watching her." Leave it to Luke to make a rant out of a cute moment.

At home, Luke lifted Jaiden carefully out of the back seat, without waking her, and carried Jaiden inside the house where he laid her down in her bed. Lorelai carefully removed her boots while Luke placed her hat on the post of her head board and moved Stanley next to her. Once Jaiden was covered with her comforter, each of them took turns kissing Jaiden, good night.

Paul Anka jumped up onto the bed to lay with the kid, twirling around first as dogs usually did before settling.

Since it was very late, Luke and Lorelai headed for bed, just as exhausted as Jaiden was. In fact, the moment their heads hit their pillows, the couple was out. Everyone was so tired, they slept through the whole night, including Jaiden. No night terrors could ruin this fantastic evening.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry again about not updating. I think writer's block might be passed. I've done all the research I think I can do, at this point, so this story has now returned (hopefully)!**


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

The following weekend was Fourth of July weekend which meant it was time for the town's yearly summer cookout celebration they had every summer at the lake. As tradition, Luke got roped into taking care of the grilling while a few others brought a dish to share.

The lake area was decorated in Fourth of July apparel, including streamers and red, white, and blue balloons tied from tables and chairs, and anywhere else possible. A stage was set up so Taylor could make announcements and where Kirk volunteered to be the DJ. Sookie had also pitched in with most of the food, of course, both sides and dessert.

This was actually Jaiden's first town event so she stuck close to Luke as possible. He and Lorelai had given her a head's up about what to expect, beforehand. Hanging around the diner, the kid pretty much met everyone already, one on one. Not that it kept her from being nervous and afraid.

Rory made good on her promise to Jaiden, coming back for the holiday weekend and offered to take her over to the lake to swim if she wanted to. Rory ended up having to leave Jaiden alone and let her get used to the chaos that was going around. In the meantime, Luke helped by showing her how to grill, making sure Jaiden didn't get too close. He did let her flip a few burgers while holding Jaiden on his side.

Families of all ages were there, relaxing and mingling with one another. Quite a few came by to say hello. Some haven't even had the chance to meet Jaiden yet. For the most part, she would duck behind Luke's legs. Jaiden at least poked her head out to wave as to be polite.

To their surprise, the boy, David, Jaiden met at the park, came by with his friends, Javier and Hank. "Hi, Jaiden," he waved, cheerfully. "We're about to have a water balloon fight and we're short a player to form teams. Wanna come play with us?"

Luke smiled down at the little girl when she looked up at him. "Go on," he urged when the boys encouraged her, also. "Go have fun. I can watch Stanley for ya while you're gone."

Timidly, Jaiden pushed from behind her foster dad's legs, passing him, Stanley before slowly making her way around the table they were setting up the buffet, on.

Luke watched as Jaiden had to eventually run to keep up with the boys as they headed to an open space to have their water balloon fight. He then set Stanley on one of the folding chairs he and Jaiden had there to sit down on while the meat cooked.

Eventually, his other three girls wandered over.

"Hey, how's the food coming along?" Lorelai asked.

"It's coming," Luke said, flipping the chicken pieces over.

Rory looked around. "Where'd Jaiden go?" she asked.

Motioning with his head, he replied, "she got invited to a water balloon fight with that kid from the park and his friends."

All three of them grew excited.

"Really?"

"Yep."

"That's great Jaiden's making friends," said Lorelai.

"With boys," April pointed out.

"Hey, as long's the kid's making friends, I'm happy," she shrugged.

Luke noticed April look over at him, knowing Jaiden hanging out with boys was making him anxious with how protective he was.

"Right now, while they're at this age, I'm cool with Jaiden being around boys," he shrugged. "Pre puberty, anyway. Then my dad radar will start going off." Luke flipped a few burgers over before hanging the spatula on the side, for now, so he could add the cheese slices.

Lorelai actually couldn't help want to check on Jaiden, herself, and said she was going to go look for the kids. Luke told her which direction they went and the girls headed in that direction.

The girls ended up finding Jaiden and the boys while they were picking up the broken pieces, trying to find them all, per Taylor's and their moms' orders. All of them were soaking wet, including Jaiden, who was helping locate as much as they could. They actually got there just in time to overhear Hank ask Jaiden about the scar on her face.

Her form tensed up as she looked away as she tried to look for more balloon pieces.

"I'm not making fun of it," the red, curly-haired boy assured her. "I have one too." He pointed a finger at the side of his leg. "I got it from falling off the trampoline at home. My mom thought I was gonna die because there was so much blood."

Jaiden looked at it, sucking on her lip.

The girls stayed back and out of sight, watching the kids interact. Hank ended up letting it go when Javier told him to leave her alone. When the kids had picked up all they could find, David suggested to play in the lake, inviting Jaiden to join them.

Jaiden was already wearing her swimsuit and life vest, so when Hank and Javier hurried towards the lake, David lugged behind to make sure she was right behind them. Jaiden ditched her flip flops at the lake edge, testing the water with her toe first. Like before, she still wore a pair of her shorts on, over her swimsuit.

The boys waded in, violently, sending water splashing into the air, as boys did until they were in the deep part.

Lorelai and the girls moved so they could still hear what was being said. Though, April questioned why they were spying on Jaiden and her new friends, even she seemed curious and couldn't help feel slightly protective of her little sister.

"Of all things I had to get from Dad," she couldn't help state, out loud.

"Nothing wrong with wanting to make sure Jaiden is doing okay," Rory reassured her.

"Yes, but after always being on Dad's case with being overprotective, I feel like a hypocrite."

Lorelai waved the teen off with her hand without taking her eyes off of Jaiden, "Aah, I think everyone, at some point in their lives, has a hypocrite moment."

"Still. This feels like an invasion of privacy and yet I can't help keep an eye on her," April replied.

"You'll get used to it."

Returning their attention to Jaiden, who was now slowly and timidly making her way into the water. They haven't had another swim lesson since Luke took her and April fishing, so this being Jaiden's first solo swim, made them all very nervous.

As they were protectively watching the kid, somebody came up behind them.

"What are you all looking at?"

All three nearly jumped out of their skin at the sudden new voice standing behind them, a large shadow engulfing over the girls. They turned around to see Miss Patty standing there.

"God, you scared us," Lorelai told her, squeezing her eyes shut.

The older woman looked between the girls with concern. "I'm sorry, dears. I didn't mean to frighten you."

It was Rory who reassured it was fine.

"Yeah, we were just watching Jaiden and her new friends," Lorelai was the one to explain.

"Oh, little Jaiden made some friends?" Miss Patty looked over there, now intrigued.

The girls looked back in time to see the boys now trying to show Jaiden how to swim so she could continue playing with them.

"Oh, I know those boys. They are really nice boys. Jaiden's lucky to have found them," she said with a smile.

"You know those boys, Miss Patty?" Rory asked, surprised.

"Of course. Hank and Javier's sisters are in one of my dance classes so I see them a lot, and David has participated in town plays every year since he was four. They are always so polite when I see them, those boys."

That actually helped relieve some of the stress Lorelai didn't realize she was having.

"They look to be about Jaiden's age. Are they?" asked April.

"Well, they're going into third grade this fall. Is Jaiden?"

"Well, sort of. Jaiden has to repeat the third grade," Lorelai explained to Miss Patty about Jaiden being behind in school and having to catch up in a separate classroom.

"Oh, that's too bad," Miss Patty gave a sympathetic look. "But, hey, it works out for them." She motioned in the direction of the kids. So, that means Jaiden was older than her new friends by a year. Of course, no one would know that just by looking at the kids, considering she was the smallest.

The kids played the whole time until it was time to eat and they had to split up to go eat with their families. Of course, Lorelai pretended like she had just walked up, and totally wasn't watching from a distance, in a hiding spot.

Jaiden hurried over to grab her flip flops, hurrying back to rinse the dirt off the bottom of her feet in the water before slipping them on.

"Did you have fun, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked as they made their way to grab their food.

She nodded. "I have friends, Mommy."

Lorelai pretended to be surprised by that. "Oh, yeah? What are their names?"

"David, Hank, and Javier."

"Were they nice to you?"

She nodded. "Guess what?"

Lorelai smiled. "What?"

"Hank has a scar, too, almost like mine. His is on his leg, though."

"Guess that makes the two of you, scar buddies." She laughed at that in a playful manner. "Maybe we can invite them over to our house before you go back to school."

The little girl's eyes enlarged when Lorelai made the suggestion, letting her know Jaiden probably never had a chance to have friends over, before. "Really?"

Lorelai smiled. "You bet."

Since Luke was still finishing up with the rest of the meat, Lorelai helped Jaiden get her food. The kid picked out a hotdog, letting her pick the toppings she wanted: ketchup, mustard, and onions. Jaiden also picked potato salad, corn on the cob, and beans for her sides. Besides soda, there were juice pouches and lemonade, but Jaiden wanted just water. So, Lorelai grabbed a water bottle for her.

Once the girls had all they wanted, Lorelai led the kid over to their corner they were sharing with Liz and Sookie's families. Of course, Lorelai and Rory got some of everything there was.

Being around the same age with almost a year apart, Doula was sitting with Sookie and Jackson's youngest, Oliver, and talking about whatever toddlers talked to each other about.

Jaiden held her plate on her lap, trying to be careful as not to spill anything on the blanket they were sitting on.

"It's okay if you spill something," Lorelai reassured the kid when she noticed. "This is an old blanket. That's why we use it for picnics. Regardless, it'll have to be washed either way. Okay?"

She nodded up at her foster mom.

"So, you having fun, Jaiden?" Sookie asked where she was sitting on her family's blanket balancing a plate of food on her hand.

Jaiden nodded.

"Jaiden met some friends," Lorelai spoke up for Jaiden, proudly. She nudged her with her elbow, "didn't ya?"

"That's terrific, Jaiden," Jackson praised. Today was actually their second time, meeting. The first being when he had dropped some produce by the inn once while Jaiden was there. However, it was a brief meeting.

It was Rory who pointed out Jaiden going into herself from all of the attention she was getting.

"So, Davey, Martha, how's your summer?" Lorelai asked of their kids, to take the attention off of Jaiden.

"Good," they replied in union.

"Yeah? What you've been up to?"

"I'm playing t-ball," said Davey.

Lorelai dropped her hands as if hurt, gently as not to spill her food. "And you didn't invite me to a game? Davey, I'm hurt," she teased the five-year-old.

Davey just shrugged, innocently.

Thankfully, his mom came to his rescue. "We didn't think you would be interested in a kid's t-ball game since you don't like sports. Plus, with everything going on with Jaiden, we didn't think you would have time to go see a game. Or wanted to put her in that environment since there would be screaming parents around."

"There's screaming parents?" she questioned, wiping her mouth on a napkin.

"Oh, boy, is there. Way more than you'd think there'd be, too," said Jackson. "I swear, parents can be very vicious when it comes to their kids."

April swallowed before adding in, "My mom got me in soccer when I was his age. Two dads got into in a literal fist fight with the referee because they didn't agree to a call he had made."

"Yikes," said Rory, looking slightly disturbed.

"I mean, it hasn't gotten that crazy," Sookie pointed out.

"It's gotten pretty close," said Jackson.

"They don't even keep score," she shrugged, "and the parents get mad over the ridiculous things."

Liz and TJ finally made their way over with their food, followed by Luke, who gave Jaiden back her dog before sitting. Jaiden set Stanley between her and Lorelai, who was offering some of her food to her own dog.

"What did we miss?" TJ asked, eager to be a part of the conversation while Liz was making sure Doula had enough to eat.

"We're discussing the ugly side of t-ball," Lorelai told him. "The parents. Some of them, at least."

"We're not quite there yet with Doula, but I remember when I signed Jess, up, when he was five. The pressure some parents put on their kids is astounding, and not in a good way." The adults continued chatting among each other even long after everyone was done eating.

Rory and April offered to take Jaiden to go swim while the four younger kids played with each other where their parents could keep an eye on them. After a while, Luke and Sookie had to go make sure the food got covered to keep the bugs out, eventually cleaning up once everyone had their fill, to make room for the dessert.

The girls took turns jumping off the dock and into the lake. Though, Jaiden was a little hesitant and the older girls had to be in the water to be there for her to cling onto when she jumped in. The boys ended up returning, asking Jaiden to come join them again. The kid was torn, wanting to spend time with her big sisters, but didn't want to lose her new friends either. Rory made sure to pass it on to the boys that she and April were visiting and wanted to spend time with their little sister. All three boys understood and assured they could play some other time. Rory even passed on what Lorelai had mentioned about the boys coming over to their house when Jaiden whispered it to her. The boys were just as excited as Jaiden was.

The girls swam for a while until it started getting dark. Rory and April grabbed a few things from the dessert table while Jaiden only took a couple cookies, rejoining the other adults.

Taylor appeared on stage, taking control of the microphone, letting everyone know the the fireworks show will be starting in about an hour. In the meantime, the townspeople continued to mingle and snack on the many cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and ice cream.

Jaiden rested her head on Luke's leg while listening to the adults, holding Stanley in her arm. She almost fell asleep until Lorelai told her the show was starting in a few minutes.

The fireworks were set up away from everything so no one could get hurt. Soon, the first firework was released and the rest followed soon after until they were all set off, lighting up the night sky in different colors. Both kids and adults watched as if in awe. Well, most of them. Luke never understood what the big deal was over a bunch of fireworks going off, adding to the air's pollution.

While she watched the fireworks, Lorelai noticed Jaiden looking over at Liz and Sookie's direction, looking sad and stealing quick glances at her.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

Looking away, Jaiden tensed up as she bit down on her lip.

Lorelai lowered her head, close to the little girl. "Hey, it's okay, sweetheart. You can tell me," she reminded Jaiden.

With a little more hesitance, Jaiden finally whispered for only her to hear, "Can I sit in your lap?"

She gave the kid, a reassuring smile. "Of course you can." Sitting up, Lorelai encouraged Jaiden to sit on her lap where she was sitting crossed-legged. Out of the corner of her eye, Lorelai noticed Martha and Oliver were sitting their mother's lap while Doula sat on her mother's lap.

Lorelai made sure to ask if she could put her arms around Jaiden.

Jaiden nodded, allowing her foster mom to wrap her arms around the kid's torso.

Together, the two watched the fireworks show as they illuminated their faces. It actually took Lorelai back to when Rory was growing up after they started participating in town events. In fact, without realizing it, Lorelai leaned her head next to Jaiden. What brought her back was when she felt Jaiden tense up and jerked her head back, apologizing in the process.

Jaiden looked back at her. "It's okay, Mommy. I don't mind," she whispered to her.

Lorelai smiled.

Jaiden leaned her head back, this time, against Lorelai, and Lorelai leaned her head against hers again.

"You have a good day, today?" she asked, softly.

"I had a great day, Mommy," Jaiden whispered in return.

Lorelai smiled once more. "Good, I'm glad. Happy Independence day, sweetheart."

"Happy Independence day, Mommy." Thinking about it, not only was today a day to remember America's independence, Lorelai couldn't help think that Jaiden, too, could celebrate her independence from the hold her past had on her and how far the kid has come, this far. She couldn't help squeeze the little girl in a gentle hold and held a loving kiss to the side of her forehead. Soon, Lorelai was pointing out cool-looking firework displays to Jaiden.


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41

After the success of the first riding lesson, Jaiden kept going to the horse ranch with Liz. In fact, Sundays were becoming their day and helped Jaiden get to know her new aunt. Of course, Emily eventually found out about the lessons during her weekly call to check in with her daughter and her family, when Lorelai was filling her mother in on how Jaiden was doing. Emily was surprised but elated to hear Jaiden enjoyed horseback riding. She did try to insist on finding a much "suited" place for Jaiden to have riding lessons since the place Liz was taking her was just a small personal ranch owned by a woman, who ran the place on her own, offering lessons out of a newspaper, pointing out Lorelai should be looking out for Jaiden's safety.

"Mom, Liz checked everything out first and spoke to the lady before signing her up, and Liz is right there, watching. The lady is very nice. Don't worry about it, we have everything under control," Lorelai tried to reassure her mother. But when did Emily ever let things go that easy? She still tried to insist on Jaiden having proper lessons at a riding stable where Jaiden could even be around more children her age. That's when Lorelai pointed out Jaiden had already made friends and told her mother about David and his friends.

Emily still wasn't satisfied. "It's wonderful she is making friends, Lorelai. But if Jaiden were to take lessons at a proper stable, she could make friends with other girls her age, as well. Maybe it would even shy her away from this tomboy phase she's going through."

Lorelai just rolled her eyes. But she remained calm. "She's fine with Connie, Mom," she told her.

"Connie is…"

"The lady, Jaiden takes lessons with. Besides, private lessons is probably best suited for her so she isn't overwhelmed by having other riders around. So, please, just let us handle things the way we know is best for her."

She heard Emily let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine, Lorelai. I will stay out of it." Emily then changed the subject, making sure her daughter remembered they were having their monthly dinner on the tenth. That was also when Lorelai filled her in on Jaiden having to go to camp the very next day.

"What kind of camp? Will there be tents or are the children in cabins?"

"Her caseworker says she'll be in a cabin with five other girls. Plus her cabin counselor will also in the cabin with them and already knows her. So, Jaiden will be meeting other girls like you wanted, Mom."

"What are the conditions of the cabin she'll be staying in? There's indoor plumbing, I hope."

"Sort of. Each cabin will have a restroom a few feet away with showers and everything they'll be sharing with the other cabins." Lorelai then went on to explain everything Celia had told them about the campgrounds they used every summer, and the activities the kids will be doing. Of course, since the camp wasn't anything like the one Emily had sent Lorelai to as a child, it did not reach her standards. In fact, Lorelai may as well have said, Jaiden would be sleeping outside like a homeless person instead of inside, in bunk beds that would be provided. To make matters worse, Lorelai made the mistake of mentioning Luke was taking Jaiden, camping a few days before, to prepare Jaiden for the trip.

Emily was appalled Luke was taking Jaiden to go sleep in a tent where there would definitely be no indoor plumbing. She tried to insist on having a talk with Celia, to suggest a much suited location, reassuring she could pull some strings with the owner of the campgrounds Lorelai went to, but she just shrugged her mother off, letting her know that things were already set in motion and the kids would be fine. Jaiden was even looking forward to the camping trip with Luke. It really didn't help but Emily did end up accepting it, in her own Emily Gilmore way.

The following week, the Monday after the Fourth of July, Jaiden had to go to the inn once again with Lorelai, leaving from there around the same time for the week's therapy session. Lorelai filled Melody in on everything from the last week and about the arraignment the very next day.

"Will you meet with an advocate before you go in?"

"He said we could, but since we had already spoken with the prosecutor and shared with him our concerns and everything, he said we didn't have to," Lorelai explained.

Melody nodded before turning to Jaiden, who was drawing a picture with crayons. "How do you feel about all this, Jaiden? Having to see your grandfather again and everything?"

Jaiden continued coloring what looked to be herself as a character out of an old western.

"Jaiden, sweetheart," said Lorelai, "we don't want to make you talk about anything you don't want to, but can you at least acknowledge Melody?"

Jaiden stopped coloring and finally looked up. Her shoulders lifted a little in response.

Melody gave the kid a kind smile. "Can you tell me about what you're drawing there?" she asked instead with sincere interest.

Jaiden stole a look with Lorelai, who reassured her, "It's okay, sweetheart," giving her some encouragement. Turning back to Melody, she moved her drawing around so Melody could look at it, right side up.

"That's me," Jaiden pointed to what she had been coloring. The drawing of herself was posing with her hands on her sides with a big smile on her face while on the other side of the piece of paper had what looked like a person inside a jail cell.

Melody pointed a finger at the star-shaped badge on her drawing's chest. "Oh, are you a sheriff putting bad guys in jail?"

She timidly nodded. Jaiden chewed on her lip, looking like she wanted to say something more. With more encouragement from Lorelai, she said, "I don't want to be scared anymore. Like Arnold Shor-a-negger isn't."

Lorelai translated Jaiden was trying to say Arnold Schwarzenegger, though Melody figured that's who she meant.

"That's a good goal to strive for," Melody said. "But, you know, it's okay to be scared, sometimes. It's a part of what makes us, human. I'm sure there's something even Arnold Schwarzenegger is afraid of."

Jaiden just stared up at the young woman with a concerned face, holding Stanley in one arm around its neck.

"It's okay to not want to be scared anymore. Being brave can also mean doing something that scares us, not letting it hold us back. Like, for example, when I was in school, I had a fear of having to stand in front of the class and read an essay out loud," she explained. "I knew if I didn't, I would get a bad grade. But the thought of speaking in front of everyone made me queasy and very nervous. So, I practiced beforehand, reading my essay in front of family, my friends, and even a few of my neighbors, and kept telling myself, I could do this. Now, the day I had to present my essay, I had that feeling of butterflies in my tummy, and wanted to run out of the room, crying, but I didn't. I stayed in my desk until the teacher called on me and went up to the front of the class."

Jaiden seemed to be sitting there, holding onto every word Melody was saying as she stared up at her.

"I took a few breaths, took a few sips from my water bottle, and told myself one last time, I was capable of speaking in front of my classmates."

"Did you picture everyone in their underwear?" Lorelai asked, lightheartedly.

"No, actually. I never could do that," she went along with Lorelai's humor. "It was weird and I definitely did not want to know what my fifty-four-year-old teacher looked like in her underwear." Melody laughed which Lorelai laughed right along.

"Yeah, that's probably not a good, mental image for your young, growing mind," Lorelai agreed.

Though, only the adults were laughing while Jaiden just sat there, confused. Lorelai stopped laughing to explain the old way of speaking in front of a group of people when a person was nervous. It still did not make any sense to the kid, who questioned how would picturing everyone in their underwear supposed to make a person feel better?

"I would feel bad they weren't wearing anything," she timidly pointed out.

Lorelai just smiled and wrapped a loving arm around the little girl, kissing the side of her head, underneath her hat. "You are such a sweetheart and I love it," she told Jaiden. Jaiden may have even had her big sister beat, and that was saying something.

The night before and at breakfast, both Luke, Lorelai, and even April helped make sure Jaiden was fully prepared for the arraignment. This time, April would be able to go inside the courtroom and sit with them instead of having to wait outside.

After breakfast, the family got ready to leave.

Jaiden came down the stairs, holding onto her shirt like before, when Lorelai was looking around for her shoes she had planned on wearing. More than likely, Paul Anka had hid them but she wasn't sure where he would hide them.

Lorelai looked up from she was on the floor when Jaiden called out to her. "Have you seen my black heeled shoes, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked while checking under the arm chair by the stairs.

"I don't know," she replied, timidly.

Lorelai sat back on her heels, looking around the living room. "Paul Anka really loves my shoes." She smiled over at the kid, finally noticing Jaiden was holding her shirt. "Did you need some help, sweetie?"

Jaiden timidly nodded. "Um…" She hesitated.

"Would you like me to help you button your shirt?"

Biting on her lower lip, she asked, "Please?"

Lorelai smiled in relief Jaiden was finally feeling comfortable enough to ask for help getting dressed. Calling her over, first, she buttoned Jaiden's shirt and helped tuck it in before fixing her collar. "Why don't you go get your brush and I'll brush out your hair for you. Okay?"

Jaiden nodded. "Can I watch Diego while you brush my hair?" she asked.

"Sure."

"Thank you," Jaiden told her, politely.

Lorelai touched her arm. "You're welcome, sweetheart." With that, Jaiden hurried back upstairs. She stood up as the kid booked it.

"Hey," Lorelai stopped her while Jaiden was halfway up the stairs. "If you see Paul Anka, tell him to fork over my shoes." She pointed at the kid.

Jaiden chuckled, seeming like she was catching on to her foster mom's humor. "Okay, Mommy."

Lorelai smiled as Jaiden hurried the rest of the way. It actually ended up taking the kid longer than it should have, bringing her hairbrush down, and when she did, it wasn't just her brush Jaiden was holding.

"Mommy, I found your shoes." Jaiden held the shoes Lorelai had been looking for, above her head.

"You did?" she gasped, happily. "Where were they?"

"I told Paul Anka to show me where he hid them."

Lorelai couldn't help grin. "Oh, you did, huh?"

Jaiden nodded. "Yeah. I followed him under my bed and he brought them to me." She handed over the shoes.

Of course, Lorelai had to tease the kid about the fact the dog's new hiding spot was underneath her bed. "Are you sure it wasn't you who stole my shoes and hid them?" She placed the back of her hands on her sides since she was holding her shoes, and eyed the kid, suspiciously, in a playful manner.

However, since Jaiden was still learning, she stared back at her, nervously. "No, Mommy. I swear. I didn't take them."

Lorelai wrapped the little girl in an embrace. "I know, sweetheart. I was only teasing ya." She then kissed the top of her head as Jaiden tightly latched onto her.

"You scared me, Mommy," Jaiden admitted to her foster mom.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I wasn't trying to scare you, I promise." Lorelai roughly but gently rubbed a reassuring hand along her back, hovering over the kid.

About that time, Luke came down the stairs, dressed for the hearing. "Somebody better not be messing with my little tiger cub," he playfully threatened.

Jaiden hurried over to grab onto his leg.

Luke reached down to lift Jaiden onto his side. "Someone messing with you, Tiger?"

"It's okay, Daddy. Mommy said she was sorry."

He smiled for her. "Oh, okay," he said and held a kiss to her cheek.

"Come on, Jaiden. Let's brush your hair so we can head out," Lorelai finally told her. Luke put Jaiden down on her socked feet, letting them know he would go fetch her shoes while Lorelai brushed her hair.

Lorelai had Jaiden stand in front of her while she sat on the couch. But not before putting an episode of _Go Diego, Go_ on while she brushed out her hair. "Hey, is there any possibility of adding an accessory, or maybe two?" she tried to ask, leaning her neck around to face the kid.

Jaiden just gave her a serious look and shook her head. It was worth a shot. Though, she did admit, "I want to get it cut, shorter."

"Yeah?"

Jaiden nodded. "I don't like my hair, long." Her hair was actually longer than when they first met. It was now down to her back at this point which was a main reason Lorelai really wanted to fix her hair up. But if Jaiden didn't want her to then she would accept the little girl's wishes. At least Jaiden compromises with a simple ponytail to help keep her hair out of the way.

"Where would you like it cut at?" Lorelai asked, running the brush through her long, blond hair while holding her hand underneath to hold in place to help with a couple knots.

"Um…" Jaiden thought on it.

"Maybe...here?" Lorelai smoothed her fingers down her hair to about just under her chin. "That would look nice. What do you think?"

Jaiden thought a little more before nodding in agreement.

"I've been meaning to make an appointment for myself. I can make one for the both of us." Suddenly, an idea popped into Lorelai's head. "Hey, what do you say to having a girl's pampering day? You don't have to get anything fancy. Just a haircut, and you can even experience your first pedicure. You don't have to get your toes painted, but your feet will feel so much better, afterwards. And we can invite April and Rory. It'll be fun and relaxing. What do you say?"

There was a brief period of silence as Jaiden stared back at her foster mom.

"How about it, sweetheart?" she asked, very hopeful.

Finally, Jaiden blurted out, "You talk a lot and really fast," catching Lorelai off guard, whose head flinched in surprise. That was not the response she was expecting.

April came downstairs, heading into the kitchen. "It's all the coffee she consumes on a regular basis," she said as the teenager rounded the stairs and headed down the hall.

"Yeah, Rory and I tend to talk a lot and faster than anyone else. You learn to keep up, eventually." Lorelai smiled for Jaiden until she noticed the kid had turned away and her cheeks were glowing red. Wrapping her arms around Jaiden, Lorelai reassured she wasn't in any trouble and all was well.

Once things had blown over, Lorelai finished brushing Jaiden's hair, sticking it into a ponytail. Everyone also finished getting ready. Making sure Paul Anka was taken care of, the family headed out the door and out to the jeep.

On the way to Hartford, they played Jaiden's CDs from the concert to help ease her nerves and made sure she knew she wouldn't be alone, that they would be right there with her. Liz and TJ would have come for support like they did before but were out of town for the next few weeks for the renaissance circuit, and had planned it a while ago, which also meant the riding lessons would be put on hold for a few weeks. Liz assured Jaiden at the BBQ that they would be with her in spirit, though. Rory also couldn't be there, but had called that morning as she normally did, and made sure to help comfort her little sister, as well. Emily of course insisting on her and Richard being there but since Liz, TJ, and Rory couldn't, Lorelai figured, for the arraignment, they keep it to the immediate family for now and assured they would be welcome at the main trial.

Though, it seemed like Jaiden was trying to put on a brave front, they could all see how terrified she still was. She held on tight to Stanley and her form appeared to be tensed as it's been before.

Now and then, Luke would twist around in his seat to reach back and playfully grab onto Jaiden's knee. "You got this, Tiger," he would remind her, giving an encouraging smile.

A smile would appear on Jaiden's face as she looked back at him.

Lorelai eventually pulled into the parking lot of Hartford's courthouse and parked. Luke was surprised to find out Jaiden wanted to walk in on her own when he offered to carry her, but she did end up grabbing onto his hand. He felt her give his hand a squeeze as they grew closer to the building and had to ease her hand away while they went through security.

They met up with Kenneth in his office, who took them to a waiting area where they wouldn't have to cross paths with Howard, beforehand, asking how they were doing and making small talk. He made sure Luke, Lorelai, and especially Jaiden knew what would be expected for this first part.

After Kenneth left them alone, it was a short wait before the arraignments for that day began. Both sides were informed of their perspective rights before the first case was called. Lorelai looked around at the other people there, most as shaken and nervous as Jaiden was. One was even pacing back and forth while rubbing her hands together. Some even seemed cool, calm, and collected which Lorelai wondered if it was just a front or if they just did well under pressure.

When the cases started being called, theirs were the first. Luke, Lorelai, and April were the first to stand while Jaiden remained seated due to some frightened hesitance. Lorelai kneeled to the kid's level to give her some last minute coaching and encouragement, along with Luke and April before she finally timidly stood to her feet. As they started towards the courtroom, Jaiden again latched onto Luke's hand, pressing her cheek to it.

The courtroom was small, about the size of a school classroom. Luke and Lorelai were directed towards the table on the left with Kenneth, while April took a seat behind them on the first bench. Howard was already sitting opposite them. This time, he had a different lawyer with him. One that looked a lot more threatening and meaner than the last.

Luke helped guide Jaiden around his knee where he pulled her onto, wrapping his arms around her waist. It was apparent Jaiden was trying to avoid eye contact with her grandfather, as she kept staring towards the floor. Her whole body was locked up and slightly shaking. Lorelai made sure to warn the kid before rubbing a comforting hand along her back to help soothe Jaiden's nerves, as not to frighten her more.

This time, the judge was a woman looked to be around the age of the family court judge. Instead of having white hair, however, hers was a darker shade of blond than's Jaiden's. She began by reading off the charges against Howard, who then pleaded, not guilty, when stated to do so. It figures Howard would, even though it was already proven otherwise.

Afterwards, Kenneth and Howard's attorney gave their arguments. Kenneth shared all that Luke and Lorelai, and Norman had discussed, but Howard's attorney was able to counter, especially pointing out the child had been only three years of age when the supposed abuse took place, and therefore, in his opinion, not a reliable source as most children's memories usually average around four years of age. Kenneth reassured Jaiden was able to recall the events enough and still had some memories prior to turning four.

Once both sides were heard, the judge then carefully considered the circumstances. With the seriousness of the charges, she sentenced for Howard to be arrested for the remaining of the process due to the evidence of possible sexual abuse of a minor, and for Jaiden's protection.

Lorelai stole a look over at Howard, who did not look happy, one bit. His attorney whispered something to him, possibly advising him not to say anything. An officer stepped forward, motioning for him. His attorney whispered more things to him as he and Howard packed their stuff before Howard followed the officer through a side door. But not before shooting an intimidating glare Jaiden's way, who continued to try and avoid eye contact. Luke caught the glare as well and made sure to keep her attention on them, instead, making sure how Jaiden was feeling, now that the first part was over.

Before finishing the hearing, the judge had set the next hearing's, the pre-trial, next date. Since Luke had mentioned Jaiden would be away at camp the following week, the pre-trial was set for the twenty-first. Though, that was still during his and April's trip, so that meant Lorelai and Jaiden would have to appear without Luke. Hopefully, since Jaiden seemed to have been growing closer with Lorelai, lately, that would be enough for the kid.

Outside the courtroom, Kenneth checked in to see how they were all feeling. Jaiden finally let Luke pick her up and held onto his neck. Knowing Howard would be locked up during her time away at camp, set both Luke and Lorelai's minds at ease, and possibly Jaiden's.

"How do you feel, kiddo?" Kenneth directed towards the young one. "Feel better? Maybe a little?" he added when Jaiden hadn't responded.

She timidly nodded.

"Um, the week of the twenty-first," said Luke.

"Not next Tuesday but the Tuesday after," Kenneth told him.

"Uh, yeah. That's actually when I will be out of town." he said, reminding Kenneth of their trip.

"Well, technically, Jaiden isn't needed for the pre-trial stage. I can let you know how everything goes and you can enjoy your vacation," Kenneth assured him.

Luke exchanged a look with Lorelai. The thought of not being there, not knowing what was happening and not having a word in the moment and depending on only Kenneth. Normally, Luke would give anything not to have to deal with this kind of stuff.

"Regardless, we'd rather be there, ourselves," said Lorelai, looking from Luke to Kenneth.

He shrugged. "That's fine. The only reason we scheduled around Jaiden being away at camp was in case something arose and the judge needed to speak to her, sooner. If you want to be at the next hearing, one of you can attend. I can promise you, though, I will make sure some kind of justice is served, and if all goes well, we won't even have to go to trial and Jaiden won't have to testify at all."

Luke scoffed. "I highly doubt Jaiden's grandfather will ever agree to pleading guilty." The guy was way too proud, it seemed and would want to go down, fighting.

"You never know. Pleading guilty will lessen his sentencing. And besides, the end goal is usually to not have to go to trial. The sooner we reach an agreement, the better. It's better for everyone, especially Jaiden," he nodded towards Jaiden. "If it does, it'll go to the bottom of the trial list and who knows how long that'll take."

"Wait, back up there," Lorelai halted the guy while holding her hand up. "What do you mean, lessen his sentence. I want the guy to go away for the rest of his life. Shoot, I want a hanging, for Pete's sake." She threw her hand up into the air.

"Look, as I said before, I am here to make sure this guy gets as much time as we can. But, you gotta remember, it doesn't always work out the way you want. Some don't even get any time at all, so some is better than nothing. And she's been through enough already," Kenneth motioned a hand towards Jaiden, "do you really want to put her through even more?"

Jaiden blurted out, "I want to," going red, afterwards, looking away.

Luke rubbed a gentle hand along Jaiden's back. "You sure, Tiger?"

She stole a look at him and gave another timid nod.

"That's great you feel up to it, Jaiden, but our goal is still to keep this from going to trial," Kenneth continued to explain. "But," he paused to take a breath, "if you're right and Mr. Reese doesn't want to change his plea, then we will have no other choice."

It would be nice to get this over with as soon as possible so they wouldn't have to deal with this man ever again and Jaiden can continue to flourish and be the kid she should have been all along. But since when is life ever that easy?

On the drive home, Luke and Lorelai discussed what to do about the next hearing. Every year, Luke and April look forward to taking the boat out and spending time with each other, and April always found some way to make a science project out of it. But he couldn't help think, if he went this time, all that would be on his mind would be the hearing, especially when Jaiden admitted to wanting to be there. Luke didn't want to think about the two being in the same room, together, even if there would be plenty of other people there to make sure nothing happened.

After a while, April suggested cutting the trip, short, this year.

"Are you sure, April?" he asked, twisted around in his seat.

She shrugged. "I mean, we're not gonna have much enjoyment as we usually do if you're worrying about Jaiden. So, why not?"

Luke had to agree April was right. It wouldn't be much of a trip if he wasn't completely focused on their time together. He did feel bad that neither of them had really spent much father/daughter bonding the whole time April's been there.

April must have caught on to her dad's guilt because she assured him, "It's okay, Dad. Really. I'm old enough to understand a whole lot better than Doula, what having a "new baby"," she used air quotes with her fingers, "entails, and I'm cool with it. Besides, I'm gonna ask Mom if I can spend every holiday for the next year, here, instead of every other. That should make up for having to cut our trip, short. Right?"

Luke was surprised to hear April wanted to spend every holiday with them.

Lorelai, though, glad to hear her stepdaughter wanted to spend more holidays with them for Jaiden's first year being a part of their crazy, dysfunctional but close, loving family, thought Luke and April shouldn't end their trip early, pointing out the two had barely spent any time with each other and deserved to have the full two weeks. Technically, it was usually three to four weeks, but since they had Jaiden this year, Luke and April had already compromised it down to two. Now, they were shortening the trip down to a week?

Truthfully, Lorelai was looking forward to having a week just her and Jaiden. Jaiden had, had a lot more bonding time with Luke than they had, since Jaiden warmed up to him first. Up until Celia told them about Jaiden having to go to camp, she was excited to have two, now it was down to only one, and Lorelai wasn't about to give that one, up. Sure, April made a valid point about Luke not having his mind fully on the trip, it didn't mean he couldn't try, right?

Knowing his wife, very well, by this point, Luke understood right away why she was pushing for them to stick to the plan and repeated April's point. Lorelai assured him, they were right but still fought for the plan.

Surprisingly, it was Jaiden who suggested, "Maybe Daddy and April can do something else together after the hearing, and Mommy and me can still have our time."

It was April who spoke first. "That's actually a really good idea. Who says we only have to bond on our annual boating trip?"

"What should we do, though?" Luke asked, unsure if there was anything else he and April would both enjoy doing.

"How about a spontaneous road trip?" Lorelai suggested. "Rory was about your age when we took that trip up to Harvard."

"Hey, maybe we can go tour some colleges," Luke looked back at April, who stared at him like he had two heads or something. He shrugged, confused. "What?"

"As much as I would love to go tour colleges, going with my dad would make it less exciting."

"How come?" Jaiden was the one to ask. "I'd go with Daddy."

April let out an exaggerated sigh. "As much as Dad cares and loves us as a father should, he is also embarrassing to be seen with, at times," she explained as if the teen girl was giving her younger foster sister a life lesson, though it made Luke roll his eyes.

Jaiden just blinked at the older girl. Finally, she asked to ask a question before asking, "What does embarrassing mean?"

"Dad tends to be more overprotective where it's uncomfortable and I'd rather die than be in that moment." Even with that explanation, Jaiden's face twisted in puzzlement.

"That sounds stupid," she blurted out.

"I guess it's a dad thing," April shrugged.

Jaiden shook her head. "No, I mean you wanting to die because Dad is just looking out for you."

"I don't actually mean I want to die, and it's not that Dad is looking out for me," she replied, "it's just not cool when Dad is overly protective in front of my friends."

"That's still stupid," Jaiden continued to press.

April only shrugged some more. "Trust me, you'll understand when you're a teenager."

Jaiden looked over at the back of Luke's seat.

Lorelai smiled for the little girl in the rearview mirror which she caught. Hearing Jaiden speak up for herself against April, even just a little, further proved the confidence she was slowly gaining in herself. "How about lunch at Luke's?" she suggested, changing the subject for Jaiden, in hopes to cheer the kid up.

Jaiden smiled at that and nodded. "Yes, please," she replied.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **This took a lot longer than I planned. I've been doing a lot of research as I can and I'm still nervous about uploading this chapter. All references are from a Connecticut law web site.**


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42

Luke woke Jaiden, early, Wednesday morning for their camping trip. After breakfast, they headed out to the garage where he had her help load the truck with the camping gear they were taking. Lorelai and April got up long enough to see them off, both going back to bed once Luke and Jaiden were gone, neither one early risers like they were.

Luke made sure Jaiden had gone to bed at a decent hour, so she wasn't too tired. It was a long drive to get to the camping area where he had taken the girls fishing. Since the radio in his truck only played cassette tapes, they had to rely on just the radio for music entertainment which they were both content with.

Once they reached the camping area, Luke parked backwards with the back of the truck facing the spot where they would be staying. Letting Jaiden slide out on his side, he headed around to the back of the truck to lower the tailgate. Leaning forward, Luke pulled everything closer to them. First thing he did was teach Jaiden how to set up the tent, properly.

Step by step, Luke walked Jaiden through the process, making sure to have her do a lot more of the work so she would learn, but made sure to help when she needed it and gave lots of praise when Jaiden accomplished a task.

With the tent all set, Luke and Jaiden decided to do some fishing for a while.

"Remember what to do?" he asked.

Jaiden nodded her head. Though, there were a couple things he had to remind her about, Jaiden successfully baited her hook and cast her line out into the water.

"Awesome, Tiger," Luke praised, proudly.

Jaiden smiled up at him.

Luke then did the same with his own rod and reel and the two sat there in silence, sitting in the folding chairs they had brought.

Jaiden reached up with one hand to adjust her hat so the front part shielded her eyes from the bright, late morning sun.

After a while, Luke ended up slouching in his chair. Not even a nibble happened for either one. Catching a fish wasn't the most important thing to him, anyway. What mattered most was being able to spend time with his newest girl.

Some time went by before he felt a tap on his arm. Luke looked over to acknowledge the hand's owner, who quickly pulled back her hand once she had his attention. "Yes?" He gave Jaiden, a playful smile.

"My tummy's growling," she replied, softly.

Glancing at his watch, he told her, "Well, it is pretty much lunch time. Would you like a sandwich?"

"Yes, please."

"Coming right up." Luke slipped his rod and reel inside a torn hole in his chair beside his leg and headed over to fix the both of them, each, a sandwich. He made sure to ask Jaiden, what she wanted on hers, bringing them back with him once Luke was done.

Luke told Jaiden to slip her rod and reel into a torn hole in her chair while she ate her sandwich and showed her how to hold the paper towel he brought her sandwich with, on her lap while she ate.

"Is it good?" he asked.

Jaiden nodded while chewing.

Even while they had their lunch, neither one received a nibble. Luke made sure they were both drinking enough water and moved their spot when their shade moved. The two fished for another hour or two after finishing their sandwiches before calling it quits for the day.

Heading over to the truck, Luke went into one of the duffle bags he had brought and pulled out a couple baseball gloves and a ball he had gotten a while back when Jaiden had admitted to liking baseball to a certain point, waiting for the right moment.

"Tiger," he called over to Jaiden to get her attention before tossing the smaller glove to her.

Jaiden managed to catch the glove in both hands. She looked it over in confusion. "What's this for?" she asked.

Luke was slipping his glove onto his hand. "Well, I know your favorite sport is hockey, and that's great. I won't ever try and change your mind on that. But, I was hoping, maybe the two of us can play catch since you said you didn't mind baseball. How does that sound?"

Thinking on it first, she replied, "Okay," with a hint of excitement and slipped the glove on her own hand.

Kneeling to her level, Luke began teaching Jaiden on how to throw a baseball and how to hold the ball in her hand and how to hold her elbow's position, helping her position the ball in her free hand, as well. Once she had it down, Luke had them spread out and started tossing the ball, back and forth. Just in case the ball was thrown in the lake by accident, he had gotten a set so they wouldn't have to abruptly stop playing.

For the most part, Jaiden either barely caught the ball or missed the ball, completely, and had to run after it.

"Good try, Tiger," Luke would tell her. "Great effort, though." With the encouragement, Jaiden kept trying. He also told her, no sports player was ever born great. It took lots of practice and time to get to where they wanted to be.

Luke and Jaiden spent the next few hours tossing the ball back and forth until Luke called it, quits for the day to start on dinner.

He showed her how to build a campfire, making sure Jaiden was careful once they got the fire going. Since no one was able to catch any fish, Luke made stew for dinner, letting Jaiden help as much as she could.

By the time the stew was ready, the twilight hours were upon them and the nocturnal creatures were starting to grace them with their presence somewhere off in the distance. Luke poured Jaiden, a bowl first before pouring himself, some. Before they knew it, it was soon dark out, the only light coming from the campfire that crackled, constantly.

Hearing some of the night critters, made the little girl jump a few times and peer around, cautiously.

"It's okay, Tiger," Luke would reassure her. "If we leave the animals alone, they'll leave us alone. And if someone does bother us, I'll protect ya." He gave her a smile to help ease her fears.

Jaiden managed to return the smile. "It's still scary," she admitted.

"That's okay. I remember being scared whenever my dad took me camping as a kid."

Her eyes widen. "You used to be scared, too?"

"Of course. We're all afraid of something."

"Are you scared of anything now?" she continued to ask.

"Well," Luke paused. Being honest with his own fears was never that easy for him. Knowing how much help and support Jaiden needed at the moment, somehow made Luke open up to the kid. "A while back," he paused to swallow a small lump in his throat, "I used to be afraid of putting my heart out there after having it broken whenever a relationship ended with a girl, badly or losing someone I cared deeply for, like my mom and dad. By the time your mom and I met, and many years later, started dating, it scared me so much, I ended up making a lot of stupid mistakes that caused us to break up and your mom marrying someone else."

"But then you and Mommy made up?"

"Yep. Both of us admitted to acting like an idiot instead of talking things through like we were afraid of."

Her eyes dropped inside her bowl.

"We've learned that talking things through and being honest with each other is the best thing to do. I mean," he shrugged, "it'll always be a work in progress, but as long we make some kind of effort, eventually it'll get easier and easier."

"I don't want to be scared anymore," Jaiden said into her stew.

Luke reached a comforting arm around her shoulders. "You'll get there, too. I believe one hundred percent in you, Tiger."

Jaiden lifted her gaze back up at him at that and a small smile appeared which Luke returned.

Despite it being the middle of summer, the temperature dropped once it got dark so they stuck close to the fire. While they were sitting there, Luke showed Jaiden how to roast marshmallows and make s'mores.

"April liked eating hers with oreos, but I think it's the best with graham crackers. What do you think?"

"It's good with graham crackers," she replied, holding a half eaten sandwich in her hands with cracker crumbs sticking to her lips.

Luke smiled. "Yeah?"

Jaiden nodded.

He ended up tearing off a paper towel and passing it to her so Jaiden could wipe off her face. Luke also had to calm her down when Jaiden realized she wouldn't be able to take a shower for a few days. He at least showed her how to give herself a "sponge bath" in the meantime, using a washcloth and a bar of soap, and lake water.

"I prefer being clean, too, but sometimes, it's okay to skip a day or two from showering," he explained to her.

Jaiden still looked unsure. She was somewhat relieved when Luke introduced her to the "sponge bath" method. She was a little hesitant when he offered to get her back for her, though didn't push it. Luke just told Jaiden to make sure to get all the spots where she sweat the most and any dirt spots.

When they were both semi clean, Luke grabbed her attention and invited Jaiden into his open arms.

He held a loving kiss to the side of her head and then rested his head against hers while kneeled in the dirt. "I can't say enough how sorry I am for the nightmares you had to live, Tiger. I'd do anything to take it all away."

Jaiden held onto him. Her hands gripped the back of his flannel shirt when he apologized to her in sympathy.

Luke let Jaiden change into her pajamas first before switching with him. Once both of them were changed, he showed her how to properly put out a campfire, starting with drowning the flames with a bucket of water and used a shovel to mix some dirt with the remaining ashes. He then made sure to feel everything to make sure the ashes were all cooled down before calling it done. One tiny spark was enough to cause a forest fire. When Luke knew for sure the campfire was completely put out, he and Jaiden retreated inside their tent where Luke inflated an airbed big enough for two and had her help spread out the blankets they had brought.

"Remember, no shoes on the air bed," he made sure to point out, gently, "and no jumping of any kind. This can pop easily if you're not careful. Understand?"

She nodded.

Now underneath the blankets, Luke set the flashlight between his arm and side so it pointed towards the ceiling of the tent and taught Jaiden how to make shadow puppets. When she got the hang of making animals, Jaiden giggled a few times especially when Luke did something funny.

To end the show, Jaiden put her fingers and thumbs together, in a curved shape so a heart appeared on the ceiling. "For you, Daddy."

"That's for me?" he asked.

She nodded at him.

So, Luke did the same, curving his fingers and thumbs so they formed a heart, as well. He held his up next to hers. "Right back at ya, Tiger." Turning his head, sideways, Luke gave her another kiss to the side of her head.

Jaiden dropped her heart and began fidgeting with her fingers.

Luke could see something was on the little girl's mind. "What's wrong, Tiger?" he asked. He reached over to push some hair behind her ear.

"Can I ask a question?" she asked, timidly.

"Of course you can," he reassured her. "Always. There is no such thing as a stupid question."

"W-why…?" Jaiden hesitated.

"Why, what, Tiger?" Luke encouraged her to continue.

"How come you and Mommy picked me?" She forced a look towards him.

Luke of course gave her a reassuring smile. "Actually, you were my pick," he admitted.

Her matching blond eyebrows rose at his response. "Did Mommy want someone else?" She frowned, pitifully.

Luke shook his head. "No, your mom couldn't make up her mind on who to choose, and when I said I wanted to adopt you, she agreed with me. You see, sweetie," he carefully turned onto his side, "something drew me to that slide you were hiding in. Probably curiosity when I caught movement in there. Then, when I looked in there and tried making small talk and noticed how frightened you looked, I don't know. You just automatically grew attached to my heart. I couldn't get you out of my mind and none of the other kids, though some were cute, I admit, just didn't touch my heart the way you did. Even when I walked away, I found myself checking on you, making sure you were okay. Then that day when our eyes locked after having to hold you still the first time, that connection became stronger and I knew for sure, I wanted you a part of our family."

Jaiden's eyes began to water. She quickly wiped them on the back of her hand. "I, um… When you weren't looking, I stole a peek at you, too," she admitted.

Luke smiled. "You did?"

She nodded. "When you were talking to Celia. But I ducked away before you turned around."

Luke couldn't help smile. "So you were curious, too, huh?"

Jaiden held up her left hand, holding a little bit of space between her forefinger and thumb. "Just a little."

He gently grabbed a hold of her hand and held a kiss to it. "And neither of us hold any kind of regret in our choice, either. As far as we're concerned, you're as much our daughter just as much Rory and April are."

This time, Jaiden let out a smile. "I love you, Daddy."

Luke reached his head closer to hers to gently touch her forehead to his. "I love you with my whole heart. No matter how much you grow and get older. To me, you will always be my little tiger cub."

"Daddy."

"Yeah?"

"Tomorrow, when we fish again, can I draw? I been wanting to try stuff like that, but without people."

"Sure," he answered. "I'm no expert on art but I think they call that landscapes."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I want to try drawing landscapes."

"And maybe we can add it to the fridge when we get home," Luke suggested.

The tent was lit up with Jaiden's smile. "Okay." Her smile not only could light up a room, it was contagious, as well, causing Luke to smile some more. "Daddy, can you sing Grandma's song?"

His face twisted in confusion. "Are you talking about your mom's mother?"

"No, not Mommy's mom," she shook her head, repeatedly. "Your mommy."

That time, his eyebrows rose. That was the first time Jaiden had referred to his parents as her grandparents. "Oh, you mean the lullaby."

Jaiden nodded.

"How about, to avoid the confusion next time, what if we call my parents, Nana and Pops? How's that sound?"

"Okay," she agreed. "So can you sing Nana's song?"

Luke smiled once more. "Of course," he said and started the lullaby. While he sang the words, Luke gently brushed the back of his fingers along her right cheek. When he got to the "cute as can be" part, Luke playfully poked Jaiden on the nose, making her giggle a little which made him, chuckle and continued the song. Before long, though, sleep overcame the duo as the calming sounds of the lake nearby and night time forest critters were heard. While he slept, Luke couldn't help keep a protective arm wrapped around Jaiden, who ended up snuggling against him, holding her dog in her arms.

They were awaken the next morning by the early morning birds chirping away. Taking turns getting dressed inside the tent and using the bathroom first, Luke made breakfast for the both of them before taking Jaiden on an early morning hike before it got too hot.

On the way, Luke taught Jaiden some more camping and nature lessons like his dad taught him when he was a kid. It was hard figuring out who seemed to have more of a great time: him or Jaiden.

"I bet you'll impress everyone in your group," Luke was saying on their way back to their campsite.

"Really?" she asked as if in awe.

He shrugged. "Maybe."

Suddenly, Jaiden looked away with a frown.

"What's wrong, Tiger?" Luke asked with concern.

Jaiden stole a look up at her foster dad but quickly dropped her gaze towards the ground. "I'm going to miss you and Mommy, and April, and Rory, and Paul Anka, and Aunt Liz, and Uncle TJ, and even Doula."

Luke wrapped his hand around Jaiden's head to pull her against his leg. "Trust me, Tiger. We're gonna miss you just as much, if not more."

Jaiden finally lifted her gaze, fully again which he smiled for her. "What if I have a nightmare? I won't have you to sing Nana's song."

"I know, Tiger, but unfortunately, I won't always be there. I'd like to be but realistically, there's gonna be times where we're apart from each other. But, that's why we want to help you when we are together so when the time comes, you'll be able to confidently make it on your own." Luke brushed his hand along her hair. "Your mom and I want you to be successful in life and confident, remember? And I know you're gonna do great, next week. You know why?"

She shook her head.

"Because you are not the same kid you were before we met you," he smiled for her. "You are already more happy and have blossomed so much."

"I still feel scared, though."

Luke rubbed her upper arm. "That's okay, Tiger. Feeling scared is normal. Just remember we are all rooting for you."

Jaiden gave him a half smirk before resting her head against his leg as she looked forward.

Once they returned to their campsite, they decided to try some more fishing. Just like she wanted, Jaiden got her drawing pad from the tent and once she cast her line out onto the water, she opened it to a clean page and opened her colored pencils Mallory had given her. Jaiden held the drawing pad on top of her lap with her legs crossed in her chair as she occasionally kept looking up. It wasn't long before Luke realized she was drawing the lake and the trees on the other side of the lake. In fact, Luke couldn't help watch his little artist at work. A part of him even hoped neither of them got a bite so this moment wouldn't have to be interrupted.

The two sat there for four hours. Luke had made sure to bring sunblock for the both of them, especially for Jaiden, who seemed like her pale skin would sunburn easy. The fish still did not bite that day so Jaiden was able to finish her picture without any kind of interruptions, showing her foster dad afterwards.

"That looks amazing," he couldn't help but praise.

"Really? I think I messed up there with that tree." She pointed to a tree on the edge of the page. "It looks like the tree is growing out of the lake."

Luke looked over to the actual tree Jaiden was referring to. He leaned towards her, to his left. "Well, from our view, it actually does look like the tree is growing out of the lake." Luke pointed out at it. "See what I'm talking about?"

Jaiden looked where he was pointing. "Okay. I thought I was looking at it, wrong."

"Again, I'm no expert, but before your mom came along, I dated a lady who loved to take pictures as a hobby, and she once told me, there is no wrong way to look at something. It's all how the artist sees an object. So, if that's the way you see the tree then it can't be wrong. Even if someone else sees it a different way and they're not wrong, either. You understand what I mean?"

She nodded. "I think so."

"It's okay to ask questions, you know," he reminded her.

"So, the way I see something can be different from somebody else?"

"That's right. It's all about perspective, which basically means seeing things from different ways," Luke explained.

"Per-spec-tive," Jaiden repeated, slowly.

"Yep."

The two shared another look between each other. When Luke planned this trip, he never would have expected to teach her an art lesson on top of the camping lessons. He was glad to share more knowledge that he had come to learn, though. Parents were the main teachers in their kids' lives, after all.

Luke grilled hotdogs for lunch this time, over the campfire. While they let their food settle, Jaiden had brought along her hockey stuff, wanting to play her foster dad at hockey. They went head to head, trying to score off the other. Both of them put in their best effort. Going easy on the kid probably wasn't the best idea for Jaiden by now. If she could learn to get around him then the kid would be able to stand her own on a team with and against other kids her own age. So Luke made sure to give her more of a challenge to test herself. Besides, if he did go easy on her, Jaiden could easily beat him and wouldn't really learn anything new at this point. Throughout the practice, though, he made sure to praise her and give out advice, of course.

Also, throughout the hockey practice, Luke made sure they were still drinking water. When they got too hot, Jaiden wanted to go swimming. Jaiden showed him what she still remembered from their lesson and what April and Rory and her new friends practiced with her at the fourth of July picnic. Luke even let her ride on his back so she could go out a little further where she wasn't able to touch the bottom of the lake, holding her arms around his neck.

While they were out there, Luke had her practice some more, reassuring Jaiden, he wasn't about to let her drown. To prove it to her, he held his arms out, underneath her while Jaiden practiced moving her arms and legs, even briefly taking them away when he felt she was ready to try on her own. Jaiden panicked at first which Luke quickly caught her.

"You got this, Tiger," he reassured her. "I believe in you."

With the slight confidence boost, Jaiden tried again and eventually was swimming on her own, in the deep end.

"Great job, Tiger," Luke praised, proudly. "I knew you could do it."

Jaiden swam to him and latched onto his neck which Luke caught her. She smiled up at him. "I did it, Daddy," she replied, some pride in her own tone.

"And I am so proud of you," he smiled.

There was even pride in her smile when Luke told her, he was proud of her. The moment was interrupted, though when Jaiden suddenly jumped and reached down into the water.

"What is it, Tiger?" Luke asked, concerned.

"Something touched my foot," she said, still reaching down there.

"Was it like a bite or did it feel like something just brushed against it?"

"Like something brushed against it."

"It was probably either a fish swimming by and its tail or fin brushed against your foot, or it was some type of underwater plant," he assured her. They still headed to shore so Luke could take a look at it, his overprotective paternal instincts kicking in. Luke couldn't find a bite mark or anything like that so he just assumed something did brush up against her foot.

They put in another hour of fishing before putting the fishing gear away, back in the truck. For dinner that night, Luke grilled hamburgers and made more s'mores for dessert. Jaiden wanted to sponge off as much of the lake water as possible before calling it a night. Luke still put out the campfire but had Jaiden still pay attention, not yet ready for the kid to try it on her own. William waited until Luke was about ten years old before letting him try on his own, so Luke figured waiting until Jaiden was ten, as well, would be best for her.

Before going to sleep, they put on another shadow puppet show and Luke sang the lullaby once more.

"Daddy," said Jaiden after he finished.

"Hm?" he asked, tiredly, his eyes half open.

"This is the best summer I ever had."

Luke smiled. "Good, I'm glad, Tiger."

Turning onto her side to fully face him, Jaiden snuggled once again with her foster dad. A yawn escaped her mouth as they fully closed their eyes and started to drift off to sleep.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Since I never heard other wise, I assumed last chapter was fine with the whole trial portion. Hoping everyone is still enjoying this story!**


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Luke and Jaiden packed up after breakfast, Friday morning, and headed back to Stars Hollow. Jaiden admitted to being torn on the camping trip being over but could not wait to get home and take a real shower. Luke laughed but couldn't agree more and reached over to playfully tap the front of her hat, making it fall in front of her eyes which she pushed back up, peeking up at him from underneath. When they finally pulled into the driveway, Lorelai was coming out onto the front porch. Luke slide out, letting Jaiden out on his side, who rushed right over as she met them, halfway.

Jaiden stopped abruptly to wrap her arms around her foster mom's legs.

"Oh. Hey, sweetheart," Lorelai greeted only slightly caught off guard but glad to see the little girl, nonetheless. "Did you have fun?"

She looked up at her. "Yeah, lots."

Luke had come over to join them.

Lorelai continued holding her arms around Jaiden. "Hey, did you still want to get your hair cut?"

Jaiden nodded. "Yeah?" she replied, tilting her head a little like a cat.

"Well, while you were gone, I got us an appointment at the place where I get my hair, done. What do you think?"

She hesitated, looking unsure.

"Don't worry, you can just get your hair cut the way you want and nothing else. Okay?"

"Okay," Jaiden agreed. "But, can I go take a shower first, please?"

Lorelai smiled. "Well, since you asked so nicely, I guess I could let ya shower," she teased. Letting go, Lorelai stepped back to let Jaiden head inside. That is, until Luke interceded, reminding Jaiden, they still had to unload the truck. There was always work involved after having fun.

So, Jaiden followed him to the back of the truck, where they unloaded everything that was stored in the garage, like the fishing equipment and the tent. For now, they put her hockey stuff in the garage, as well. Once everything was stored, neatly, in its place, they took the duffel bags with their clothes and everything else inside the house which Luke said to leave by the washer and he would wash everything while Jaiden was out with Lorelai, knowing how badly she wanted to go shower already.

The minute she was dismissed, Jaiden dashed up the stairs.

A thought popped into his mind, hurrying after her. Luke caught her, halfway up the stairs. "How about I run Stanley through the wash for ya?" he suggested. "He could probably use a bath, himself, especially if you're taking him with us, tonight. I'm sure your mom's parents would prefer not to smell anything from our little adventure." He smirked up at her.

Jaiden looked down at her dog in her arm. "He'll be okay in the washing machine?" she asked, like a mother dropping her child off for their first day of school.

"I will make sure of it," he assured. Stepping back down the few flights of stairs, Jaiden passed Stanley over the railing.

"Take good care of him, Daddy. Please?"

"I will. Don't worry." They exchanged one last smile before Jaiden turned and hurried up the stairs and Luke headed down the hallway towards the kitchen, to start the first load.

While Jaiden showered, Lorelai caught Luke up what they missed over the last few days. It wasn't much. Same ol' stuff. Babette came by, making sure her and April were alright. To their surprise, the boys had stopped by on their bikes to see if Jaiden could come out and play, and were bummed she wasn't home.

"I told them Jaiden would be home today but we had a lot of stuff to do in preparation for tomorrow," she said.

"Did you tell them when Jaiden would be home from camp?" Luke asked.

"I told them, she'll be gone for a week. I'm sure they'll probably check back, then." Lorelai took a drink of her coffee when she remembered what else she told the boys, stopping mid drink. Swallowing the warm liquid, she added, "I also told them, it was really sweet they were wanting to be friends with Jaiden, and how excited she was to finally have friends to call her own. I didn't say much, just that Jaiden's had a pretty tough life kids their age don't normally have. Hank tried asking about her scar but I told him when she's ready, I'll let Jaiden share the story behind it."

Luke shrugged. "Why couldn't you tell him?" He was leaning against the kitchen counter with his arms lightly crossed.

Lorelai shrugged in return. "'Cause, I figured that should be something Jaiden can share if she wants to. I mean, I could have told him but I think it might make the friendship more special. If Jaiden does end up becoming close friends with these boys, that could be something that might prove the friendship; exchanging something like her scar in confidence, especially when she wasn't ready to tell him then."

Luke considered on that thought. Both of them really were glad and relieved to see Jaiden had made friends, even if they were all boys, and according to Miss Patty, were really sweet. It was a shame Jaiden missed them and would have to wait a whole other week until she could see them again.

Suddenly, there were two pairs of footsteps on the stairs, followed by Jaiden calling, "Mommy! Daddy!"

Alarmed, especially since they hadn't heard Jaiden call out to them like that, yet, the foster parents immediately looked up just as she was hurrying into the kitchen, followed shortly by April.

Lorelai, who was the closest, reached out for the kid, stopping Jaiden in her tracks. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" She rubbed a comforting hand along her upper arm.

A look of pure terror was on the kid's face like she had seen a monster or something. She gasped for air which Lorelai had her take deep breaths before answering.

It was April who responded first. "It's nothing, honestly," she tried to assure them. "I tried to explain to Jaiden, I am taking all the precautions and will be extra careful with the research."

Luke had immediately pushed himself up from the counter when he heard Jaiden call for them. "What the hell are you talking about?" he couldn't help ask out loud. "Precautions for what?"

Finally, Jaiden was able to gasp out, "April's gonna bring mold into our room!"

"Mold? How?" Lorelai asked, calmly, trying to keep Jaiden, calm, as well.

"While you were gone, I started another science experience I wanted to test out, to see which kind of potato grew mold the fastest: organic and non organic," the teen explained.

"Okay, that's disgusting. You want to grow mold, and basically waste two, perfectly good potatoes?" Luke stared at his oldest with a questionable look on his face. "You know that can make both you and Jaiden sick, right?"

"Not to mention, Paul Anka, if he gets a hold of one," Lorelai added, now holding an arm wrapped around Jaiden's waist.

"Not how I have things set up, he won't. Trust me, I know the dangers mold can do and I'm making sure everyone, human _and_ animal, will be safe."

But Jaiden was still shaking her head, constantly, towards her foster sister. "My other mommy says, mold doesn't belong in the house. It can make you very sick and even kill you."

"April, I am sure you have everything under control and all, but even I'm not too crazy about this," Luke told her. "Can you, maybe, move this outside. You know how much Jaiden prefers things to be clean, anyway."

She tried to protest. "But…"

"It's both of you girls' room now, hun," Lorelai reminded April. "Both of you have to be respectable of each other's wishes."

April let out an annoyed groan towards the ceiling. "Fine. I will move the experiment outside," she agreed. "I will have to take relocation into account of the process when I make more notes, but okay." The teen then turned and headed back down the hall. "Jaiden, you are such a pain."

Lorelai noticed Jaiden's gaze drop towards the tiled floor. "It's okay, sweetheart. April's just frustrated."

She sniffed in. "I wasn't trying to be a pain."

"We know you weren't," Lorelai assured her.

"Besides," said Luke, his hands now on his sides, "I'm pretty sure being a pain is part of a younger sibling's job description. I can't tell ya, how many times I've called my sister a pain when we were kids. Didn't mean I didn't love her," he took in a breath of air, letting it out, "it just meant she was bugging the crap outta me as younger siblings do, sometimes."

Lorelai tried lightening things up. "I'm sure you and April were long overdue for a moment like this, anyway." She snickered.

"But April looked mad."

"Just give her some time, okay? April still loves you, sweetheart. I may not have grown up with any siblings, myself, but I do know, mostly from TV, it's perfectly normal for siblings to have moments where they disagree with one another." Lorelai unhooked her arm and had started rubbing her hand along Jaiden's side.

Jaiden still looked worried. Her eyes glistened with a film of tears. "I promise I respect her side of the room. I don't even use the closet. I fold all my clothes in my dresser."

Luke made his way around the table, to Jaiden's other side. He kneeled to her level. "We know you do, Tiger. We don't doubt that."

"And, if a situation did ever arise, we will always hear both sides from each of you, just like we said we would," Lorelai reminded her. "Okay?"

The little girl nodded. "D-did… Was April mad that she had to share a room with me?"

"No, sweetheart," she shook her head. "If fact, April was excited to share a room with her new, little sister."

"If it was an issue, we would have gotten our friend, Tom and his crew to come help build another bedroom onto our house," Luke explained, now rubbing gentle circles along her back.

Lorelai got her attention once more. "We made sure to talk it over with April, first, and figured since she only lives part time with us, sharing the one extra room we had originally added for her, would be enough, and April doesn't mind at all, so don't you worry."

Jaiden nodded up at her. She still looked worried but the glistening in her eyes seemed to vanish.

"You ready to head out, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked, changing the subject.

She nodded.

"I figured, after our hair appointment, we could grab lunch together, just the two of us. How's that sound?"

"Okay," Jaiden replied, her tone still a little cracked.

Lorelai rubbed her hand along her side some more. "A mother and daughter lunch date," she tried to make it sound more exciting. Thankfully, it seemed to perk the kid up when the corners of her mouth slowly rose. At that, Lorelai suddenly pulled the kid in and squeezed Jaiden in her arms.

"Awright! Let's hit the road!" she announced, now on her feet which Luke had risen, as well. Lorelai threw her hands up in the air, above her head to make it sound even more exciting, like they were going to Disneyland or something.

Jaiden smiled and looked excited to be spending time with her, but like her foster dad, wasn't much for literally jumping for joy.

Luke bent back over to hug and kiss his little tiger cub, good-bye and teased her to be good, though of course Jaiden took to heart, promising him, she would be. "I was only teasing, sweetie. You're the only one who isn't a brat. Though, you will probably still cause me, gray hairs from worrying about ya," he smirked.

Lorelai just playfully rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Lucas."

He threw his wife, an annoyed look when Luke stood back up again but nonetheless, kissed her, good-bye, as well. "See ya, crazy lady," he threw her a lovingly expression. No matter how many times this woman drove him, crazy, Luke couldn't help be crazy in love with her, and wouldn't have it any other way. So, maybe he was crazy, too.

Lorelai returned the expression. The couple must have gotten lost in each other's eyes because both of them jumped when they heard Jaiden ask, "are you having a staring contest?"

Lorelai smiled over at the little girl. "No, that's what couples do when they're in love."

One eyebrow rose. "They stare at each other for a long time?"

"Sometimes."

"Oh."

"Come on, sweetheart." Lorelai then led the kid from the kitchen. She stole a glance back over her shoulder, to see Luke standing there, grinning like a doofus which she couldn't help return.

Once Lorelai had her purse and keys, the girls headed out to her jeep. She folded the seat down so Jaiden could climb into the back. Since Stanley was still in the process of being washed, Jaiden had to go without him. She was nervous without him, especially the fact of having to get a haircut from a stranger, but Lorelai promised to be close by.

On the drive there, Lorelai asked Jaiden about the camping trip and all the fun things her and Luke did.

"We went fishing, and played hockey, and Daddy taught me how to play baseball," she told her foster mom.

Lorelai lit up with excitement. "He did?"

Jaiden nodded. "And we went on a hike and Daddy showed me how to look out for nature signs in case I ever get lost, and what's okay to eat if I was ever starving in the woods."

"Oh, well, let's hope that never happens," she said, partly joking, grossed out at the idea of having to eat random things in the woods.

"Yeah, me too. I don't even like mushrooms on pizza because mushrooms are actually a fungus," Jaiden agreed.

"Where did you learn that from, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked, curious, up towards the rearview mirror.

"My other mommy told me one time. That's when she also told me about mold, and that none of it were ever allowed in the house."

She nodded ahead, "Oh, okay." Glancing up towards the mirror, Lorelai assured her, "But, you know, mushrooms you buy from a grocery store and on pizza are okay to eat and are actually really good."

Her face scrunched up in disgust. "No, thank you," Jaiden shook her head.

Lorelai didn't push it, just as Luke hadn't. "Mushrooms really are a fifty-fifty choice of liking. Some like them, some don't, and that is just fine. But just saying, pizza mushrooms are okay to eat. They won't make you sick like the ones in the wild will."

"Okay," she just briefly shrugged. There was a brief pause until Jaiden spoke again. "Mommy?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"Is it true you and Daddy broke up and you married someone else?"

Lorelai was caught off guard by that question. "Who told you that, sweetie?"

"Daddy told me on our trip." What exactly was Luke telling Jaiden while they were gone? Jaiden must have thought she said something wrong because she said, "I didn't mean to upset you." Her gaze dropped towards the floorboards of the jeep.

"No, sweetie, you didn't upset me. I just wasn't expecting your question. It's okay if you want to know our past and how Daddy and I got together," she reassured her. "But, uh, yeah, there was a time we almost weren't together."

"Can I ask how you met Daddy?" Jaiden asked with some timidness but also seemed curious.

Lorelai smiled. "Of course. It was at Luke's Diner, around lunchtime, and I was in desperate need of coffee." She then went on to tell the story of the day Lorelai and Luke met, making sure to include the horoscope. "And Daddy still keeps it in his wallet 'til this day."

"You said if he gave you coffee, you'll go away. So, did you go away to marry the other person?"

"Uh, no, sweetie. That wasn't until many years later when Rory was still in college," Lorelai explained. "The coffee I had that day ended up bringing me back, on the count of it was the best coffee I'd ever had, and since your dad served it, I couldn't leave him alone like the horoscope said I would and eventually, I grew on him enough we became friends." Lorelai laughed at that part.

"So, you were friends first?" Jaiden kept asking as if growing more and more curious.

"Yep, and eventually the best of friends. Daddy made sure to look out for both me and Rory whenever we needed anything."

Jaiden had slipped her hands underneath her thighs so she was sitting on them. "So, since you were best friends, you started dating?"

"That's right," she nodded once. "Back when Aunt Sookie and I were first opening the Dragonfly, your dad asked me to Aunt Liz and Uncle TJ's wedding, then to a movie, then before we knew it, we were officially dating. Though, apparently, the town was expecting it and thought it would end like the rest of my relationships ended, and yes, your dad and I did have our ups and downs, and fights, and we did break up a couple times…"

"But, then you both talked it out and said you were sorry, and then you finally got married?" Jaiden finished for her, quickly apologizing when she realized she had interrupted.

Lorelai only agreed, happily. "But during our break up, though, yes, I was married, to Rory's dad."

Jaiden looked confused at that. "But you said you met Daddy when Rory was a kid."

"Yes, sweetheart, but me and Rory's dad were high school when Rory appeared," she explained.

She blinked, still confused. "Appeared from where?"

"From my tummy."

Her eyes grew large which made Lorelai realize Jaiden may have never got to ask the infamous baby question before now. Just as expected, her next question was as followed, completely flying out of her mouth before she could stop it. "How did Rory get inside your tummy? Did you eat her?"

Lorelai had to stifle a snicker that Jaiden thought she had eaten her big sister. However, realization quickly set in that the baby question had yet again fallen on her shoulders. Lorelai hadn't really taken it well when the day had finally arrived when Rory asked, and this wasn't any different, despite Lorelai being older and more wiser. Though, Rory had been younger and had started school when the question had arrived, being five instead of eight like Jaiden was.

Just when Lorelai was about to awkwardly retell the tale she had informed a little Rory of, another thought made its way into her mind. Had anyone ever explained to Jaiden, about what had happened to her? Not in a complete detailed sort of way, but in a way that her little mind might end up putting two and two together if Lorelai gave even a gist of how babies end up in Mommy's tummy?

She let out a soft sigh under her breath as Lorelai stared ahead at the road as she drove. She wanted Jaiden to be able to come ask her anything she wanted to know and they probably should make sure Jaiden knew exactly why her biological grandfather/father had done something inexcusably wrong to her.

"Jaiden, sweetie, has anyone ever explained to you just what your grandfather did to you?" she managed to work up to ask.

Jaiden gave another confused look and shrugged. "He hurt me with his pee pee."

"Yes," she nodded. Her eyes briefly closed, still disgusted to have to hear such a thing. Taking another deep breath, Lorelai continued. "The reason why I'm asking goes with how babies are made, I guess what I'm trying to say."

The little girl's eyebrows moved together in even more confusion.

Lorelai got a tad choked up but was able to push the lump back down. "What he did, sweetheart, is how Rory's dad and I made her. It's how all babies are made."

Her eyes grew large once more. In fact, Jaiden freaked out. "Does that mean I have a baby inside me?" she gasped.

"No, no, no, no," Lorelai quickly shook her head, hoping to calm the little girl down. "You were too young for a baby to be made. You have to go through, what's called puberty, what girls go through when they usually reach the age of twelve or thirteen. I'll explain more about that once you get closer to that point. But, sweetie, just know, what he did. It's only should be between two people a _whole_ lot older, grownups even, who both agree and _never_ to a kid who doesn't fully understand, and even if they do, they shouldn't have to be put in that way. Actually, they made laws so that doesn't happen." She noticed Jaiden was sucking in her lip. "You okay?"

Jaiden timidly nodded. "So, grownups like that?"

"Yeah, they do. In fact, it's actually an expression of love. Just, some creeps like to twist it around and force it on others against their will."

Jaiden fidgeted with her hands in her lap, staring at them.

"I'm really sorry, sweetheart. I'd like nothing more to sugarcoat this stuff and tell you the cutesy story I told Rory when she was your age," Lorelai told her, softly. "But under the circumstances, I guess we have to be already passed that part. I just wanted to make sure you understood what happened in case you had any questions floating around in your mind. I don't even know if it was the right thing to do, telling you?" She held a short shrug for a moment. "I just know, I want to make sure you can come to your dad and me with any question you may have, regardless of how awkward it could be. Okay?"

Lorelai saw Jaiden nod without looking up. "Do you have any other questions for me? I know this is some pretty heavy stuff for a kid your age."

For a while, Jaiden seemed to be in thought, probably trying to take it all in. Lorelai really felt guilty for having to share that much of information while she was still considerably young.

After a few minutes, Jaiden said, "So…" She paused for a second. "You said it's a way to show love. So, does that mean Papa...really did love me?" She finally lifted her gaze again. The look the kid gave completely shattered Lorelai's heart.

"Honestly, sweetheart," Lorelai shrugged. "I'm sure your grandfather probably did love you. Does love you, I don't doubt that. Sometimes, people don't know how to control themselves." She quickly added, "Not saying it was right. What he did was inexcusable and I want to do things to him I can't say in front of you. But, I don't know what's going on inside of his heart. Maybe, there could even be a possibility he was hurt that way as a child, himself, and was never able to process it the right way and get the help he needed, so your grandfather ended up passing it on to you and your mom."

Jaiden replied, "Maybe." She glanced away before turning back to ask, "Mommy?"

"Yeah?"

"Before, I wanted to hate Papa like you and Daddy, and everyone did. But I couldn't. And now…" Her voice trailed off for a moment. "When you said Papa could have been hurt like we were… I feel sorry for him. And for Other Mommy."

"Oh, sweetie." Lorelai smiled, moved by the fact this kid could get even more sweeter. "It just means you're stronger than the rest of us."

She suddenly lifted her gaze. "I am?" she asked in surprise.

Lorelai switched on her signal to change lanes. "It's a lot easier to hate someone than it is to feel sorry and forgive them, and the fact you are able to not hate your grandfather despite the terrible things he did to you. That takes a whole lot of strength, sweetie, and I am so, so proud of you."

A small smile appeared. "Thank you, Mommy," she told her.

Lorelai smiled in return. "You're welcome." To tell the truth, her and Luke weren't the only teachers teaching Jaiden. Pretty sure she was teaching them, as well. Both of them had learned so much in the last few months, alone just from this kid.

Once Lorelai had pulled into the parking lot and parked, she slid out and folded the seat down, holding her hands out like she was offering help. But when Jaiden latched onto her, Lorelai lifted her into her arms, shifting the kid just a little.

Like Luke had done, Lorelai touched her forehead to Jaiden's, underneath her hat. "You don't even know how much I love you, kid."

Jaiden held her arms wrapped around her neck. "I love you too, Mommy."

"Hey, what do you say to mother/daughter haircuts?" Lorelai had to suggest, mostly as a joke.

But Jaiden shook her head.

"Come on, it'll be fun. I've been trying to get Rory to get matching haircuts with me for years."

Thankfully, Jaiden was catching on that she was kidding and giggled softly. "No, Mommy," she shook her head.

"Really? Are you sure?"

That time, Jaiden nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

Lorelai pretended to pout, making sure Jaiden understood she was pretending. "You and Rory are no fun, you know that?"

"If Rory said no, then I should say no," she stated, sounding somewhat rehearsed as if someone told Jaiden to say that.

"Says who?"

"Rory."

And, there it was. Lorelai had a suspicion Rory was behind that statement. "Oh, did she now? Well, I'm gonna have to have a serious talk with that girl the next time I speak to her." She made sure to smile and keep her tone, lighthearted so Jaiden knew Lorelai wasn't actually serious about all this and no one would actually be in trouble.

Jaiden giggled some more and squeezed her foster mom in the tightest hold the little girl could muster which Lorelai squeezed her back, in return. It was becoming apparent this kid was slowly but surely becoming a Gilmore girl, in her own unique way.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Wanted to point out, April wasn't intentional trying to be mean. It's just a harmless sisters not getting along thing I wanted Jaiden to experience.**

 **Also, I understand there is a need to see more moments between Lorelai and Jaiden. Don't worry, the week Jaiden returns from camping and it's just her and Lorelai, there will be plenty of moments. I even already have one planned. The rest, I'm still working on. Before I forget, though. A couple of you asked about Jaiden's friends being all boys. That's just the way I write. I've always been a fan of those movies/TV shows where a girl's best friend is a boy and I've always incorporate that into my writing. Sorry it took me a while to address it. I hope everyone doesn't mind David, Javier, and Hank being Jaiden's friends as I don't have plans to add another.**


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44

As soon as they walked inside the salon, Jaiden pinned herself behind Lorelai, only shyly peeking out when Lorelai introduced her to everyone. It took a lot of coaxing to get Jaiden to come out and willingly climb into the chair so the lady could cut her hair. Before climbing into the chair, she handed her hat to Lorelai to hold.

The lady wrapped the cloth around her, covering everything but the kid's head. Lorelai sat in an empty chair beside Jaiden's, being a voice for how Jaiden wanted her hair, cut. Once she made sure Jaiden was okay with it, Lorelai left to head across the salon to have her own hair washed.

Lorelai was only gone for the length of time it took to wash her hair. "Still doing okay, sweetheart?" she asked when Lorelai returned, this time with a salon towel wrapped around her head.

Jaiden timidly nodded, looking out the corner of her eye as the lady was finishing up.

The lady took another minute or two with cutting Jaiden's hair as she and the other lady, who was now working on Lorelai, chatted as women usually did in salons. They tried to include Jaiden, who only gave shy head movements or shrugs.

Finally, the lady finished and removed the cloth. "What do you think?" she asked Jaiden.

Jaiden looked at herself in the mirror in front of her chair, scooting forward on the edge.

"Do you like it, sweetie?" Lorelai asked from where she was sitting.

She turned her head to look at Lorelai and nodded. Now, instead of being down, passed her shoulders and covering parts of her face, Jaiden's hair barely passed her chin and didn't fall into her face as much as it did. It was sad Lorelai wouldn't be able to brush it out for her anymore but at least it would be easier for Jaiden to wash and take care of on her own.

The lady let Jaiden stay in the chair while Lorelai was being finished, since she had to sweep around what had fallen on the floor before the next customer arrived. The one working on Lorelai made a harmless comment about this one not being a reader like Rory was at her age, when Jaiden looked bored, resting her chin on the chair's arm. Whenever Rory had tagged along and would be finished first, she normally read to pass the time, always having a book with her.

"Aside from comic books, no. Reading's not really her thing," Lorelai replied. "Jaiden's more of the artist in the family."

"Oh, an artist?" she said in surprise.

"Yep. Jaiden knows her way around a pencil." Just like with Rory, though, Lorelai couldn't keep the proudness out of her voice and ended up telling them all about the kid's amazing artistic skills. It was another forty minutes before Lorelai was finally finished, herself. She didn't talk about Jaiden, the whole forty minutes, though, when Jaiden seemed extremely embarrassed and close to tears whenever all eyes landed on her.

While they were checking out, the lady who worked on Lorelai, offered Jaiden a Dum-Dum sucker. To Lorelai's surprise, she took one, taking the grape flavored sucker. Of course, Lorelai had to take one, too, snagging a cherry flavored sucker.

After the salon, the two headed over to a sandwich place Lorelai knew of to grab lunch. Once she knew what Jaiden wanted, Lorelai suggested snagging a table for them while she ordered their food.

An older couple standing in line behind them commented on how beautiful Jaiden was after she headed in search of a table.

Lorelai thanked them both with a smile. She did not even correct the couple when they assumed Jaiden was biologically hers.

Once she was able to order, Lorelai took their number and the cups over to see which table Jaiden had picked, finding her in a corner table away from everyone else. Leaving the number on the end of the table so the server knew where to bring their food, they headed over to the soda fountain to get what they wanted to drink.

Lorelai helped Jaiden with hers when Jaiden pointed to the blue Powerade while Lorelai got iced tea for herself.

The girls sat across from each other while waiting for their food to arrive.

"You're very pretty, Mommy," Jaiden complimented her hair.

"Aw, thanks, sweetie," she replied. "And, so are you."

That made the kid smile, a little. "Thank you," she said in a shy manner, her cheeks turning red around her scar.

While the women had been talking, one of the salon ladies had asked about Jaiden's scar and mentioned she could have it removed by a plastic surgeon if Jaiden wanted to, pointing out it would be best, socially, since kids could be cruel. Lorelai had told them, it would be a discussion they could talk about later when Jaiden hadn't responded to it at all. She decided this was a good time to bring it up while they were waiting. To be honest, Lorelai hadn't even thought about having the scar removed, much less what Jaiden wanted to do about it.

"What do you think about having your scar removed, sweetheart?"

Jaiden looked downward with just her eyes where she was holding her head, right side up, on her folded arms.

"It's up to you. Nobody else can make that decision for you," she added. "I know it probably brings up a lot of bad memories for you. "

Jaiden remained silent. Her eyes shifted around the table.

"It might help you be able to move on. Getting rid of it won't take away what happened or the emotional pain inside, but it might help the healing process."

Without looking at her, Lorelai heard Jaiden mumble something she couldn't quite understand.

"What was that, sweetie?" she asked, gently, leaning in closer.

Jaiden lifted her head off her arms a little. "But, it's my battle scar, though. Like Arnold has in his movies, sometimes."

"Yeah?" Lorelai couldn't help smile. This kid really did seem to look up to Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie characters. "I guess you can see it that way, huh?"

She nodded.

"Well, you don't have to have it removed," she assured. "The offer's always there if you ever decide to change your mind. Okay?"

Again, Jaiden nodded. "Okay. But I think I'm okay."

Lorelai was impressed by this kid even more. She decided to change the subject and brought up the boys. "David and the other boys stopped by while you were camping, asking for you."

She perked up at that time. "They did?"

"Yeah. They wanted you to come play with them. I told them you were camping, and would be leaving for camp when you got back so I let them know when you would be home for good, and they said they would be back, then. They think you're a really cool kid and can't wait to play with you some more. What do ya think of that?"

Jaiden was about to answer when the server came over with their food. He set it down in front of both of them and asked if there was anything else they needed. Since Lorelai had grabbed extra condiments while getting their drinks, she politely declined his offer. So, telling them to enjoy their meal, the server left the girls alone once again to eat in peace.

Jaiden had gotten the ham and cheese with lettuce and tomato while Lorelai got a BLT sandwich with extra bacon. The girls continued talking while they ate their lunch. Turns out, Jaiden was very excited the boys still wanted to be friends and confessed David had told her, they liked hockey, too, the day they met.

"Oh, so that was the deal clincher, huh?" said Lorelai.

Jaiden gave her foster mom a puzzled look, slightly raising an eyebrow. Catching on, quickly, Lorelai explained what she meant. "Then, yes," she said, afterwards, once Jaiden understood.

"Just curious. What made you really like hockey?" Lorelai decided to ask.

Jaiden timidly shrugged one shoulder. "I saw a movie about it in school, once, and just really liked it."

"You watched a movie about hockey in school?" she questioned. "Was it for P.E.?"

She shook her head. "I had a teacher that let us watch movies every Friday, for fun. Then, that weekend, a big kid I lived with at another foster home, was watching it in the play loft, upstairs, and watched it with him. He didn't know because I was hiding," she explained. "Then, I started playing on my own whenever I found a stick as long as a hockey stick." Jaiden took another bite of her sandwich.

"What's a play loft?" Lorelai couldn't help wonder out loud.

Jaiden shrugged one shoulder but quicker this time. "That's what they called the playroom. It was like a living room but it was upstairs, outside where the bedrooms were at."

"Sounds fancy," she commented. Their hallway barely fit a small group of people at once.

"The foster mom and dad's room was like the size of the living room, downstairs, too."

Her eyebrows arched in a quick impressed look but let it pass as Lorelai took another bite, chewing for a moment before changing the subject. "I bet you can't wait to be able to play on a real hockey team." Lorelai playfully snickered.

She quickly nodded, very excited. "I told David how Daddy taught me how to ice skate and plays with me, sometimes."

"Yeah? Did you tell'em how I tried and failed, miserably?"

"It didn't come up," Jaiden answered, innocently not realizing Lorelai was mostly joking. "But, you didn't fail, Mommy." She shook her head before shrugging her shoulders, briefly holding them, "you just don't know how to play. Daddy said you were trying and that's what matters, right?"

"Yeah, I've never really been great at sports," Lorelai agreed. "I once got hit in the eye when Rory and I were playing racquetball. After that, never wanted to play a sport ever again. Even before, I never had a real interest in sports and always tried getting out of P.E. when I was in school."

"Will you have an interest to come watch my games?" Jaiden asked with hopeful eyes.

Lorelai leaned forward to assure her, "Of course. Only you could get me to watch sports." Another smile spread across the kid's face.

After lunch, they headed back to Stars Hollow and spent the next couple of hours going from one store to another, shopping for things Jaiden was going to need for her week away at camp. As they found everything, Lorelai would cross it off the list Celia had given her.

So Jaiden would be able to write home while she was away, they stopped by a shop for a stationary set which Jaiden picked out one that had cats. Lorelai also had her pick out an address book to fill with their family and friends' addresses so Jaiden could have them, and promised everyone was going to write to her, as well.

"Even Aunt Liz and Uncle TJ?"

"Yep, even them."

"But they went on a long trip," Jaiden pointed out Liz and TJ was still away on their yearly renaissance circuit.

"Even while they're away, they promised to write you at least once or twice. We made sure they would have the address of where you'll be and how long you'll be gone before they left."

Jaiden nodded in response, seeming like she trusted Lorelai's word.

Besides the stationary set and address book, they also grabbed a laundry bag so Jaiden had something to put her dirty clothes in, so they wouldn't get mixed up with clean clothes. A flashlight with extra batteries, a water bottle that had rubber, red grips on the sides, and a disposable camera, among a few other things she needed. Lorelai also made sure to get brand new sheets and found a fleece blanket of Diego and his jaguar friend.

Once they were finished, they headed home with some time to spare to get ready for dinner, that night. Since they were walking all over town in the summer heat, Jaiden decided to take another shower before changing into nicer clothes.

While the girls were out shopping, Luke had checked in at the diner after finishing the laundry. When he returned, he took his ledgers home to work on while he waited for everyone else to finish getting ready.

Jaiden came back downstairs and heard her call for Lorelai.

"She's upstairs getting ready, Tiger!" Luke called back. "Need something?"

Jaiden appeared in the walkway to the kitchen, holding her shirt closed. "Um...I need help with my shirt."

Luke offered to help if she was okay with it.

Hesitant at first, Jaiden took a step towards him before cautiously making her way over to where he was sitting at the table.

He set his pencil on top of the page he was writing on and turned halfway in his seat. Jaiden told him where to start, but Luke only fastened the first one and explained as he slipped the button in its hole before having her try on her own.

Luke ended up showing her with the next one and had Jaiden try again with the next.

Jaiden moaned in frustration when she still couldn't do it. "Can you do it, Daddy?" she asked.

"No, because you won't learn how to do it on your own if I did," he told her. "It takes practice. I recall seeing formal clothes on that camp list, which means you're gonna have to know how to fasten your shirt on your own, soon."

"I can ask my cabin cow-ah-sir."

"Jaiden," Luke said, firm but gentle.

Jaiden automatically dropped her gaze towards the floor.

He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees to be at her level. "Look at me, Tiger." Jaiden lifted her gaze to look up at him. "Remember what I said about teaching you to be strong on your own?"

She gave a timid nod.

"This is the same thing. You cannot give up just because something's too hard or can't get it on the first few tries. My dad only showed me how to do things once and expected me to keep at it until I finally got it. He pushed me because he knew I could and I'm gonna do the exact same thing because I too know you can. Don't ever let anyone tell you, you can't do something, and that includes yourself. Understand?"

Jaiden hesitated for a brief moment but eventually nodded.

Luke showed her one last time before having Jaiden try again. She managed to poke half the button through but had trouble getting the other half. He encouraged her until Jaiden was able to successfully get the whole button through the hole.

"I did it," she said, happily.

"See? I knew you could do it," Luke praised, happy and proud, himself. He knew she could. The kid just needed some encouragement and for someone to believe in her.

"Good job, Tiger." Luke offered a high five which Jaiden returned. "Okay, how about the next one?"

It took about ten minutes but Jaiden was able to fasten the rest of the buttons on her shirt, herself, without any help from him. Each time, it even took her less time than it did on the last button. Luke at least fixed her collar and helped show her how to tuck in her shirt. His heart broke, however, when he felt Jaiden tense up at that part but made sure to remind her, he wasn't going to hurt her and let her finish instead.

Afterwards, Luke ran his fingers through her hair. "Your haircut looks amazing, Tiger," he complimented. "You are so beautiful."

A small smile appeared. "Thank you, Daddy."

Luke held his hands on his knees. "You're welcome, Tiger."

At that, Jaiden turned and headed back upstairs to finish getting ready. He heard her return, shortly, with her shoes on, and asked if she could watch TV until it was time to leave. Luke gave her the okay.

By then, Luke had finished his work. He closed his ledger while leaving the pencil inside as a bookmark. Leaving everything there on the table, Luke stood up from the table and headed into the living room where Jaiden was slouched on the couch with Paul Anka curled up right beside her, petting him, and the remote in the other hand. Stanley was wrapped in the arm holding the remote, all fresh and clean.

Luke dropped down on the couch, on the other side of the real dog, while Jaiden was watching that painter guy, Bob Ross. From what he could hear, she was channel surfing. He sat there, staring at the TV as the guy calmly and peacefully painted a picture of a snowy barn scene. It was mostly done by then and Bob Ross was working on a small fence out in front.

Looking over, Luke nudged Jaiden with his elbow. "You planning on painting that, soon?" He gave a small, playful chuckle.

Jaiden stretched her neck out, sitting up more. "I never painted before."

"You want to?"

She shrugged, her eyes still on the TV.

"Your biological mother says her mother was a painter. Did you know that?"

"Other Mommy never wanted to talk about her mommy."

"Well, she was. Lorelai says your mother was very talented with painting," Luke told her. "In fact, we're sure that's probably where you got your artistic talent from." But he noticed Jaiden shake her head. "You don't think so?"

When the credits started to roll, Jaiden looked over at him. "I learned how to draw on my own whenever I could."

"Still, that's impressive a kid can draw that well. I'm sure you got some kind of skill from her."

Jaiden just shrugged and turned back to the TV. There was a moment no one said anything until she looked up at him again. "Can I tell you a secret, Daddy, I never told anyone else?"

"Of course, Tiger." Scooting as close as he could with a dog between them, he told her, "you can tell us anything."

Jaiden looked away, nervously, as she chewed on her lip as if contemplating revealing whatever secret she had hidden from the world.

"Whatever it is, I won't get mad or make fun of you, if that's what you're afraid of," he reassured her, in a gentle tone.

Without looking up at him, Jaiden managed to speak a little. "Some...times… When everyone w-would be asleep… I w-would…" She paused.

"When everyone was asleep you would, what, Tiger?" Luke gently urged the kid to continue.

Jaiden hesitated at first.

Luke reached over Paul Anka to brush the back of his fingers along her upper arm to comfort her. "It's okay, Tiger."

"I-I… w-would sneak on t-to the com-pu-ter s-so I-I…" She hesitated some more. This time, Luke wrapped the same arm around her to pull Jaiden in for an one-arm hug and rubbed his hand along her other arm.

"You're doing great, Tiger."

Jaiden managed to sniff in. "I-I never st-stopped drawing, I j-just d-did it in se...cret without n-nobody knowing." She kept her gaze fixed on a spot on the floor.

"When? Here?" he asked.

She timidly shook her head, slowly. "At… O...ther f-foster h-homes. Ex...cept Stephen and M-Mal's home. I stayed in my room." Luke noticed a tear drift down her cheek. "One time... a-a foster dad got mad and said n-nobody c-could u-use the com-pu-ter if nobody says i-it was th-them. I was so scared, I never came out of my hiding spot for the rest of the day and never did it again while I was there."

"Oh, sweetie." He couldn't imagine the burden Jaiden had carried around, not able to go up and ask to use a computer, herself, and instead use it in secret.

"I would keep the sound down and remember when someone would wake up at night, and hide if someone got up to go to the bathroom," she continued to confess. By this point, more tears had followed, alerting Paul Anka, who sat up to try and lick them away. Jaiden hugged both dogs to her. However, Luke noticed the stumbling on her words had stopped and seemed to feel more confident sharing with him.

"Hey, look at me, Tiger," Luke spoke up after a moment.

Jaiden let go of Paul Anka to look at him.

"Here, you don't have to ask to watch TV and I was told, Rory says it's okay to use the computer. You don't have to sneak around at night, okay?"

She nodded, timidly.

"I'd prefer if you didn't watch TV or play on the computer at night, actually," he added. "Bedtime is for sleeping, okay?"

Jaiden nodded a third time.

"But, if there is anything you want to do, just ask. Chances are, it'll be okay. TV's free for anybody to watch as long as your homework's getting done. The same goes for the computer."

This time, Jaiden replied, "Okay."

"Listen, though," Luke told her, "I know that must have taken a lot to tell me. Admitting the truth can be hard, that's why it's usually the right thing to do. I'm proud of ya, Tiger."

Jaiden wiped her eye on her sleeve. "Am I in trouble?"

Luke looked at the kid confused. "Why would you be in trouble?"

"Because I didn't tell the truth, then, and for using their com-pu-ters when I wasn't supposed to."

"No, Tiger, you're not in trouble. We all do things we probably shouldn't do, and you told the truth, now, right?"

She nodded.

"That means the slate's clean, so you don't have to worry about it anymore. Okay?"

"Okay," she replied, her voice cracking just a little.

"Besides, I think you learned your lesson by not trying it again, huh?" Luke gave a playful smirk and chuckled.

"Yeah, but I tried it a couple times when I moved to a different foster home."

Luke gave a small shrug. "Sometimes, we do relapse before we fully learn." Like Lorelai, he too explained what relapse meant, for Jaiden.

"Can I ask you about something?" she asked afterwards.

"Go for it," he told her.

"Do you think I should get my scar taken off by a special doctor?"

"I mean, that's up to you," he said with a shrug. "It's not for me or anyone else to decide. Do you want to get it removed?"

Jaiden shook her head. "I think of it like my battle scar like in the movies."

"Yeah?" he said and chuckled. "We all have our scars, actually." Luke then showed her a scar he had on his hand. "That's from burning myself, once, at the diner," he pointed at the side of his hand on his pinky's side. Switching to his other hand, he showed her a scar he got from cutting himself when he was supposed to be cutting vegetables, underneath his pointer and middle finger.

"Like when I cut myself that one time?" she asked.

He smiled for her. "Yep. See, even us adults mess up from time to time."

Jaiden smiled at that.

When she noticed some boring PBS program was on the TV, Jaiden continued surfing through the channels until coming upon ESPN showing baseball highlights and stopped again. Luke tried to point out she didn't have to watch baseball because he was sitting there, but Jaiden admitted she was interested in it.

Luke couldn't help smile. "Hey," he reached over to nudge her arm again. "How about I take ya to see a baseball game some time before school starts? What do you think?"

Jaiden had looked over at him right when he nudged her that time. "Sure," she answered. "When hockey season starts, can we go see a game, too?"

"I bet we can," he answered.

"Okay," Jaiden agreed.

Leaning over, Luke touched his forehead to hers.

April was the next one ready and joined her dad and foster sister on the couch, when she came downstairs, with Luke and Paul Anka in the middle of the girls, while they waited for Lorelai. Jaiden once again started surfing through the channels until stopping on a Discovery Channel animal show, and all three watched as a narrator narrated about a cheetah stalking its prey, doing some father and daughters bonding while they waited.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

Lorelai eventually came downstairs, ready which Luke told Jaiden to turn off the TV as he stood to his feet.

Paul Anka moved to the other end of the couch when April also stood up, and pushed himself up onto the couch arm, on his front legs as his tail wagged as if he thought he coming along.

Lorelai rubbed his neck. "Trust me, boy, you do not want to go where where we're going," she told the dog. To Jaiden, she suggested, "hey, why don't you bring your sketchbook? You can show my parents your drawings."

"Will they want to see them?" she asked, unsure.

"They might. Quick, go get it."

Jaiden hurried upstairs.

Leaning in towards Luke, Lorelai asked, "Did you help Jaiden with her shirt?"

"A few, to show her," he said. "But Jaiden fastened the rest, all, on her own."

Lorelai looked surprised but in an impressed way. "Really?"

He nodded. "Figured she should probably learn on her own, especially since I remembered seeing formal clothes on that supply list of things she needs for camp."

"What does she need formal clothes for at a summer camp?" April asked.

"Not sure," Lorelai replied. "Maybe they have something formal going on during the week."

Jaiden returned, coming down the stairs with her sketchbook under her free arm.

"Alright, let's head out, crew!" The family headed outside to where the jeep was parked.

Jaiden climbed in on Luke's side before Luke could slide in.

On the way, April asked Jaiden if she knew why formal clothes was needed for an outdoor summer camp?

"On the last night, there's a dance the staff and everybody puts on for us," she explained.

Luke perked up first at the mention of the word, dance. He twisted around in his seat to look behind him. "Dance?"

Jaiden nodded. "They move the tables away where we eat and decorate it with balloons and stuff, and play loud music, and everyone dances."

"Like, girls dancing with boys type of dancing?" Luke continued to probe, a little anxious.

"Sometimes. Usually, everyone dances with their friends."

He let out a sigh of relief at everyone dancing with friends. "Okay. Just remember, if you do dance with a boy, make sure you're three feet apart. Someone should be able to walk between you."

Both Lorelai and April rolled their eyes at Luke's protectiveness.

"Dad, she's eight. I doubt anything is gonna happen," April was the one to point out.

"I don't dance anyway," Jaiden admitted.

"How come, sweetie?" Lorelai asked in the rearview mirror.

"Because I don't like the music they play."

"You know there's be- I mean, _other_ music besides country. Right?" said April.

"Yeah. I like some cla'tic rock."

Lorelai perked up that time with interest. "You like classic rock?"

Jaiden nodded. "Only a little bit."

"Like what?"

She shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know any names of bands or names of songs."

"Can you sing any that come to mind?"

Jaiden looked up towards the roof of the jeep as if to think about it. After a moment of silence, she sang, "even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight…" She paused briefly before singing some more. "You're a candle in the window on a cold, dark winter's night. And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might. I can't fight this feeling anymore." In a regular speaking tone, she said, "that's all I can remember."

"REO Speedwagon?" Luke asked, listening to the words.

Lorelai glanced over at him, surprised he knew who Jaiden was singing. "Wow, guess not all music is lost on you."

"I do know some rock, yes," he told her, half annoyed.

"Anyway…." Lorelai looked up at the rearview to ask April, "April, can you look through that box at your feet? There should be a CD for REO Speedwagon in there."

"Sure." April pushed part of her seat belt behind her so she could reach down and pick up the box of CDs, and began looking through them until she found the CD.

Lorelai twisted her arm to reach back for the CD when April handed it to her, thanking the teen. On top of the steering wheel while keeping most of her attention on her driving, she took the disc out and slipped it into the CD player, switching to the song Jaiden had been singing.

"Is this the song you like?" she asked, turning the volume up a little.

Jaiden listened as the music started. It wasn't until the singer began singing did she nod. "Yeah, this is the song."

"The song's called, _Can't Fight This Feeling_."

"Oh, okay," she said and started singing along.

Lorelai smiled as the little girl attempted to sing along, wishing she had a video camera so she could record the adorable scene happening behind her.

Luke caught a quick glimpse with Lorelai and they both exchanged a smile. Lorelai had to look ahead but couldn't help continue watching Jaiden from the corner of her eye while Luke looked back, behind him again.

As Lorelai eventually pulled onto the street her parents lived on, a silver Prius appeared behind the jeep.

"Oooh, look who's behind us," she announced while looking up at the rearview mirror to look behind them. In the driver's seat of the Prius was Rory. She had told her mom, she would be meeting them there.

Luke and April both looked over their shoulders, able to see through the back window just fine. However, because of Jaiden's height, she could barely see over the seat and what she could see, she ended up blinded by the headlights.

"Who is it?" she asked, squinting her eyes towards the back window while using her hand to shield them from the headlights. "I can't see."

"Rory's behind us," April was the one to answer her.

"Don't worry, though," Lorelai assured when Jaiden tried even harder to see over the seat, "we're less than a minute away and you can see her, then."

Jaiden faced forward again, looking bummed at not being able to see like the rest could.

"If it makes you feel better, Jaiden, I used to be small for my age, too. Well, most of me was small for my age." She caught a puzzled look on the kid's face in the rearview mirror. Clearing her throat, Lorelai forced herself to admit to having a large head as a young child and was constantly reminded of it.

"That just means you are so smart that your brain needed lots of room because...of how...smart you are?" Jaiden didn't sound confident but it was sweet she was trying to cheer Lorelai up about having a unusually large head, growing up.

Lorelai smiled at her. "Yeah, maybe," she agreed.

"Actually, your intelligence doesn't have any effect on the size of your head size," April pointed out. Of course, they knew she wasn't trying to purposely shoot down Jaiden's thought, Jaiden was broken-hearted as she looked close to tears at having her figurative balloon popped.

"April, hun, I love you and all, but you have got to learn to stop taking things seriously. Scientifically, yes, it's might not be the reason, but Jaiden was only trying to help cheer me up. Let's try to keep what innocence she has left for as long as we possibly can, okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure," she said, apologetically and turned to apologize to Jaiden. "That does sound like a good reason her head was so big."

A corner of Jaiden's mouth lifted a little. She then asked, "April?"

"Yeah?"

"Are…?" Jaiden looked away while trying to keep eye contact. "Are you still mad about this morning?"

"You mean about my experiment?"

She gave her a timid nod.

"Honestly, not really," April admitted. "I thought about it, and a change in environment does add to the research. And, sometimes, scientists does have to keep unexpected changes in mind. Sorry about calling you a pain."

"It's okay," said Jaiden. "Daddy says it's my job because I'm your little sister."

Luke smiled at the kid's response, staring at the car door.

But Jaiden shook her head. "But I won't try to be."

April smiled for the kid. "That's good, but I'll still love you, no matter what."

The kid smiled wider that time and reached over to hug the older girl. April wrapped her own arm around her, hugging Jaiden, in return just as Lorelai was pulling into the driveway.

Luke and Lorelai let the girls out first before shutting their doors. When Rory parked and got out, Jaiden made a dash for her oldest foster sister, squeezing her around the legs, tight.

"Hey, Jaiden," Rory greeted, holding her hand around the kid's head, happy to see her. "Missed ya, too" she snickered at being tacked around the legs. "I see you got a haircut."

Jaiden let go to look up at the young woman. "Mommy took me today when Daddy and I got back from camping."

"It looks great," she told her.

"Thank you," Jaiden replied.

Rory smiled. "You're welcome."

Once Jaiden had her turn, the rest of the family took turns greeting and hugging Rory before they headed up to the front door. The current maid answered the door and let them in, letting the family know Emily was in the living room which they thanked her, for.

Jaiden ended up, pinning herself to Luke's side, seeming like she was still nervous about being there despite starting to like them.

When they entered the living room, Emily greeted them, cheerfully, exchanging a hug with Rory, and yelled for Richard to join them.

"Where's Jaiden?" Emily asked once she greeted everyone else.

"Crap!" Lorelai exclaimed in a mock but convincing gasp. "We left Jaiden at home!"

But, Emily just rolled her eyes as if she could see her daughter wasn't being serious. "Very funny, Lorelai," she said, unamused, in a sarcastic way.

Lorelai chuckled but got serious when no one else did. "She's behind Luke, Mom."

About that time, Jaiden poked her head from behind Luke's right leg, in a shy manner like she did at the salon.

"There you are," Emily smiled at the little girl. "Hello, Jaiden."

Bashful, Jaiden waved at the woman before finally stepping out to stand beside her foster dad.

"There, that's much better now that we can see that beautiful face of yours." The compliment got a small smile from the kid. With the greetings settled, Emily told them all to sit and offered everyone a drink.

Both of the older girls took a soda while Jaiden whispered to Luke, she wanted water. Luke of course just requested a beer while Lorelai got her usual drink. As everyone was getting settled with their drinks, Richard finally emerged from his study, having been on the phone with a client.

"Hello, everyone," he greeted and individually said each of their names, who greeted him in return. When Richard got to Jaiden, he was especially excited. "Jaiden, so glad to see you."

Jaiden waved hello to him, still bashful as she was with Emily.

"So, I hear the first trial went well," Richard directed towards Luke and Lorelai once he sat down in one of the chairs. "The man is locked up now, I hope."

"For now, yes," Lorelai was the one to answer her father. "Because he pleaded not guilty, as we expected he would, we have to go through with the rest of the court process."

"And when is the next trial?"

"The next trial is, not this Tuesday, but the Tuesday after Jaiden gets back from camp," she explained.

He nodded. "I see. And I assume you're in good hands, correct? Norman find you a reliable prosecutor?"

"Absolutely. Norman trusts this guy is one of the best and will make sure things go in our favor," Lorelai assured him with a nod.

"That's good to hear," Richard replied, satisfied.

"I still can't believe you're letting Jaiden be a part of this if she isn't needed until the actual trial," Emily insisted even though Lorelai had already explained over the phone, the other day, this was Jaiden's decision.

Lorelai tossed her head back in frustration. "Mom, Jaiden wants to be there, I told you, that," she tried to remind her.

"But if this man is the reason she's terrified of the world around her, why put her in the same room if it isn't necessary?"

"That's just it. Jaiden wants to overcome her fear of him and make sure he gets what should be coming to him."

"I have to agree with your mother, on this, Lorelai," said Richard. "If it's not absolutely necessary for the child to be there, then she shouldn't need to be there."

Lorelai sighed, holding her eyes closed towards the floor. "Mom, Dad," she tried to remain calm. "This is our decision. If Jaiden wants to be a part of this and hear with her own ears what's happening, then that is okay with Luke and I. We are trying to be open with her, and make sure she has as much of a voice in all this as much as she possibly has. Please just let us handle this, ourselves."

"Fine, Lorelai, if you insist, as you always do, we will stay out of it," Emily told her daughter, even though there was a hint of reluctance.

Lorelai thanked them and redirected the conversation so she could bring up Jaiden bringing her artwork to share with the class.

"Oh, I love seeing pieces of art," Richard stated, excited once again. He was probably expecting artwork children Jaiden's age usually created, but when Lorelai encouraged Jaiden to pass them, her sketchbook, which Jaiden nervously did, and they opened to the first drawing, their jaws dropped in surprise.

Emily was the first to respond. "Oh my- Jaiden drew this?"

"Yep," Lorelai smiled, proudly, exchanging a look with the kid.

Luke also smiled towards Jaiden, just as proud.

"I know you said, Jaiden was talented, but I wasn't expecting this," Richard also said. "This is incredible. Real, genuine talent." The Gilmores continued to turn through the pages of the creations Jaiden had made. The kid's formed relaxed and a small smile appeared at the positive feedback. One particular drawing caught Emily off guard in another way.

"Oh, my… There are even people, completely naked in here? Lorelai, how can you let your soon to be daughter draw something like this?"

Lorelai looked confused as she wasn't sure what her mother was talking about. Did she mean the action scenes Jaiden loved to draw?

Rory, being the closest to her grandmother, learned over to see for herself. Having been sitting there with Jaiden, watching videos with her again when she visited, fourth of July weekend, came to the kid's defense when Jaiden tensed up. "It's actually common while practicing drawing people, to draw them completely naked so you can get the basic shapes of the human body, down. In fact, many art classes start out that way."

Luke wasn't too thrilled hearing Jaiden was drawing naked people, anymore than the Gilmores were. Not to mention, Lorelai was also weirded out by it.

"I will admit, I've known about artists having to start with the nude form, myself," Richard admitted. "I'm just surprised someone Jaiden's age is drawing those and in such, uh...detail." His eyes darted between the others and the drawing.

Lorelai stared at her father in confusion. "Detail? You mean with... _certain_...parts?"

It was Rory who said, "Thankfully, the person chose to shade in shadows for... _those_ parts. Plus, Jaiden was at least mature about doing it."

She felt herself release a breath of air.

"Jaiden and I have actually already discussed and looked into art and animation colleges for when she grows up," Rory also admitted.

Lorelai flinched in surprise. "How come I didn't know about this?"

She shrugged. "It was just something we talked about during one of our sisterly bonding moments. We even found out there are high schools that focus on the arts, as well, that help in getting into those colleges. Kind of like how Chilton helps get you into schools like Yale and Harvard. I told Jaiden, with her talent, she should do well in schools that specialize in the arts. They still have the regular core classes like math and English, but they focus more on stuff like drawing, painting, and even photography and other artsy stuff."

"I have to agree, I think Jaiden would do very well in a school such as that if these pictures are anything to go by. These are just incredible," said Richard as he flipped through the rest of the sketchbook.

"But how will Jaiden be able to support herself?" Emily pointed out. "Art doesn't sound like a very stable career."

"Actually, with media and technology continuing to grow, there are a rise of artists doing well," Rory explained. "I have faith Jaiden will do well in the animation field she wants to work in."

"Animation? You mean as in making cartoons? They pay people to sit in a room all day, drawing silly pictures children waste their time watching?"

"Oh, yeah, they do. In fact, people of all ages loves cartoons," Lorelai joined in.

Richard also added, "I do find myself laughing to myself at those comic strips in my morning paper."

April nodded in Luke's direction. "And, Jaiden already made her own comic book she gave Dad, for father's day. It pretty much looked like a legit, unpublished comic book."

"You know, if you asked Jess, he could probably be able to print it into an actual book form at his place in Philadelphia," Rory suggested towards Luke and Jaiden.

He stared at her. "He can?"

"Yeah, they are a publishing company, after all, with machines that print books." She then added, "I don't mean, like, actually getting it published and sell it. But it would be cool to have something like that like a book."

"I think that would make it a graphic novel, wouldn't it?" April said. "Usually, comic books are paper thin, stapled together, whereas, graphic novels, I've noticed, are more book-like."

Rory shrugged. "I'm not really an expert on comic books, but I'm sure Jess can do, either, or."

"I'm not either. Graphic novels seem to be the popular thing among some of the nerds at my school."

"Regardless, I think helping Jaiden pursue a career in the arts is a terrific idea, and we would even help make sure the tuition is paid for, as I'm quite certain both high schools and colleges that focus on art is just as expensive as Chilton is," Richard stated.

Lorelai was quick to jump in at that. "And both Luke and I will start saving now in preparation for when Jaiden reaches high school." She was not about to go through all they had to endure getting Rory through Chilton, and eventually Yale. Lorelai did not want to go through it again.

Of course, her mother gave her a disapproving look, but said nothing.

Even Richard was at a loss for words. "Uh, well, alright then." At least they accepted it, even if they did want to help Jaiden live up to her potential. Being her future parents for the rest of Jaiden's life, Lorelai felt only her and Luke should be the ones supporting Jaiden in reaching her dreams. How pathetic would it be, needing help getting two kids through school, especially when Lorelai wasn't a single mother this time? No, this time, she was going to be smart about this and make sure they had the money.

About that time, the maid returned to inform them, dinner was ready. So, everyone moved to the dining room where the conversation was changed to how Rory's work was going as a journalist, as well as how Richard's business was going, among other topics.

Thankfully, dinner went better than the last one with Jaiden able to keep Stanley, as that was the deal.

When everyone was finished, dessert was brought out as they finished the dinner conversations, and soon the meal and the evening came to an end. Exchanging good nights, they retreated outside to where they were parked. Once Jaiden found out Rory was staying the night, she timidly but politely asked if she could ride home with her which Rory gladly said she could.

Parting company for now, the Danes-Gilmores went to their respective cars and to head home.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Per Jaiden's request, the family spent the rest of the evening, playing games at the kitchen table. They started out with a quick game of Candyland, Lorelai and Rory's pick before playing another quick game of Operation. That one was quick on the count of Luke and Lorelai getting into an argument when she kept making him nervous on his turn, which led to Luke, rage quitting. Rory was able to calm the two down and shift the focus back to family game night, letting Jaiden pick the next game.

Jaiden looked around in the game closet, scanning the many board games until landing on the game of Risk, and asked what it was. Rory explained to her what the game was, piquing the kid's interest, thus choosing the game. They set it up on the kitchen table as Lorelai and Rory explained the rules, and as they played through the game. It was a slow start at first but over time, Jaiden got the hang of it and by the end, she had conquered all of South America and Africa, and was shifting over to Australia when everyone started feeling tired and ready for bed.

Both Luke and Lorelai came in to say good night to the girls which Jaiden requested their lullaby before everyone went to bed. All seemed at peace that night as everyone slept soundly. Or, so they thought.

Lorelai laid there, hugging her pillow as she slept peacefully. Despite being asleep, she felt movement creep along the bed. Lorelai figured it was probably Paul Anka and didn't really think much of it. So, she shifted over in her sleep, facing the other way. The bed sunk in between the couple's upper bodies as some weight was moved along the bed. It was strange Paul Anka would come that far up on the bed. Then, for a split second, Lorelai heard a tiny voice squeak before the sudden sound of someone vomiting. Lorelai had never moved so fast than she did in that moment. She immediately turned on her bedside light to be able to see who it was.

Luke had also shot up out of bed the moment he heard the sound of someone puking their guts out. Unfortunately, not quick enough to avoid getting some on him.

There, on the bed, was Jaiden, sitting back on her legs, clutching both Stanley and her new blanket. Puke had splattered all over her knees, along with the sheets and pillows. Luke wasn't thrilled to find out some of it had splattered on him, as well.

"Sorry," they heard the kid whimper, while wiping her nose on her arm.

Trying her best to not throw up herself, Lorelai kneeled on the bed, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, sweetie. Does your stomach hurt?"

Jaiden timidly nodded. "A little. I was having trouble sleeping and then my tummy felt weird. Not sick-weird like when I was sick. It was like…"

"Like butterflies flying around in there?"

Luke had went to change in the closet while Lorelai was making sure Jaiden was alright and made sure she got cleaned off. Of course the kid wanted to take another shower, but Lorelai managed to talk her out of it.

"You just need a sink and a rag, and a change of clothes, and you're good."

Jaiden still wasn't one hundred percent sure and tried to insist.

Lorelai pushed some hair behind the kid's ear. "Sweetie, it's great you want to be clean. That's good. Some kids have to be bribed into a shower. But sometimes, messes happen that can be wiped up with a washcloth and soap."

Jaiden looked away out the corner of her eye. She bit down on her lip and began chewing on it as if to ponder on Lorelai's words.

Luke came out of the bathroom, changed into another shirt. "Remember what I said camping, Tiger?" he reminded her, stopping on his side of the bed and placed his hands on his sides. She twisted around the other way to look back at him. "Sometimes, a sponge bath can be enough until you're able to shower again. Right?"

Her gaze dropped towards the floor from where she was looking at him.

"It's okay. I promise," he reassured her. As much as being clean was important to both Luke _and_ Lorelai, it was inevitable to get dirty or messy even after you had showered or bathed that day. It took a bit more encouragement, but Lorelai was able to lead Jaiden down the hall, to the girls' bathroom. She grabbed the kid a change of pajamas while Jaiden stripped out of the soiled ones. Jaiden's form was tensed when Lorelai returned and flinched once Lorelai had wet a washcloth in the sink, with soap, and kneeled to her level.

"It's alright, sweetie." Lorelai gently asked for her arm first and started wiping off all of the splatter. When it came to wipe off her face, Lorelai made sure to ask first. She wasn't sure why she was doing it when Jaiden was capable. Something in her motherly instincts insisted on doing it.

Each time the washcloth made contact, Jaiden would flinch but would start to relax whenever Lorelai reassured her.

"Mommy."

Lorelai stood up to rinse the washcloth under the faucet again.

"You're softer than my other mommy," Jaiden told her.

She smiled briefly while looking up from rinsing off the washcloth.

Jaiden nodded before dropping her gaze on the floor again. She rubbed at her arm. "Can… Can I tell you something?"

Lorelai turned off the water and twisted the washcloth in her hands to wring out the water. "What's that?" she asked, encouragingly.

The kid searched around the bathroom tile for a good long minute. Lorelai left the washcloth to hang on top of the faucet for now and kneeled back down in front of her. She held the clean pair of pajama pants out so Jaiden could step into them, holding onto the edge of the counter for support. Jaiden took over to pull them up.

"It's okay if there's something on your mind. You can tell me anything. Really, sweetie," Lorelai said, scrunching up the shirt before pulling it on over Jaiden's head. Of course Jaiden took over the rest, putting her arms in the sleeves. It fell on its own, to her knees. The few times Lorelai seen the kid without a shirt always reminded her how skinny the kid really was. Not dangerously skinny, she was thankful of that. Still, Lorelai couldn't help notice every time.

Without lifting her gaze, Jaiden uttered, "When I was little…"

To lighten the mood, Lorelai finished with, "you tap danced with a tuxedo-wearing penguin?" snickering afterwards. It was even better when the joke got a small smile from the kid, who stole a look at her before lifting her head more.

Jaiden shook her head. "No, Mommy," she replied, looking like she was trying not to laugh.

"Oh, darn." Lorelai snapped her fingers in mock disappointment, adding a smile afterwards. She then let Jaiden continue.

With the lighthearted teasing, Jaiden only looked away briefly before she was able to get her thought out. "I...actually liked getting dirty."

"Yeah?" Lorelai said with a smile.

She nodded. "We had a big backyard that had trees that were fun to climb, and there was this pile of sand that was fun to dig in and build mountains with. But…" Jaiden's gaze dropped once more.

Lorelai reached out and gently took hold of her waist, ducking her head to look the kid in the eye. "But, what, sweetie?"

Jaiden hesitated. "Mommy didn't like it and made me take a shower every time I got dirty."

Hearing the kid share more about her past broke Lorelai's heart. Don't get her wrong, she was glad Jaiden was opening up. It didn't make it any less heartbreaking. "I'm sure your mom meant well." She tried to offer some sympathy.

Slowly, Jaiden lifted her head. "How come my other mommy hated me?" Her small voice cracked as the words spilled out.

"Oh, hun." Lorelai invited Jaiden in and held the kid in her arms, rubbing a hand along her back. "Your mom was hurting just as much as you were. Both of you had to live through pain I can't imagine living through and your mom didn't know how to express those feelings. Not saying it was right what she did to you, but when stuff like that is kept bottled up inside of us, it can come out in anger and hurt those around us." She heard Jaiden sniff in from her shoulder as the kid held her arms around Lorelai.

Lorelai held Jaiden for as long as the kid needed before nudging Jaiden away to look at her, directly. "Hey, I got a great idea."

Jaiden rubbed a fist in her eye as she asked, "What?"

She pushed some hair behind Jaiden's ear. "How about when you get home from camp, I ask Celia where they buried your mom, and you and I can go visit her. What do ya say?"

Jaiden continued to rub at her eye. She did, however, nod her head. "Okay," she replied in a mouse-like voice.

"We can make a stop and get some flowers to lay on her grave, too," Lorelai added.

"Her favorites are hy-dra-gra."

"Hydrangeas?" Lorelai asked, making sure.

Jaiden nodded.

"Then, that's what we'll get."

The small smile returned.

Seeing Jaiden smile was contagious. "You feeling better, sweetheart?" She nodded towards her stomach.

Jaiden looked down, touching her hands to her stomach. "A little," she admitted.

Lorelai nodded. "Little's good. Nervous about tomorrow, huh?"

She nodded. "I'm scared I'm gonna have a bad dream and Daddy won't be there to sing to me. Daddy singing makes me feel better."

"Well, maybe when that happens, you can close your eyes and picture Daddy in your mind, singing," Lorelai suggested.

But Jaiden shook her head. "I tried that at Stephen and Mal's house."

"Yeah, Mallory told us they heard you singing."

"It's not the same like Daddy sings it," she pointed out.

"Hm." Lorelai went into thought to try and come up with something that could help. Then an idea popped in. "On the way to the drop off in the morning, we can stop and get like some kind of greeting card or one of those stuffed bear toys you can record a message on, and we can record your dad singing. You think that might work?"

Jaiden timidly shrugged. "But what if it wakes up everyone?" she asked worried.

"We'll make sure he doesn't yell the words." Lorelai chuckled, trying to add more lightheartedness again. She got serious to assure her, it would be okay.

When she stood up, Jaiden asked, "Mommy?"

"Yeah, sweetheart?"

"Can I sleep with you and Daddy?" The kid's blue-green eyes shined as they stared up at her with hope. How could anyone say no to that face?

Lorelai smiled. "Of course you can."

They left the bathroom which Lorelai turned off the light and returned to hers and Luke's room where Luke had already finished switching out the sheets and comforter. He returned shortly from dropping the soiled ones, along with his shirt and Jaiden's pajamas, outside to be washed in the morning.

Jaiden had already climbed into her spot when Luke made his way around to his side. Hovering over her, he held a kiss to the side of the kid's head.

"Feel better, Tiger?"

"A little," she told him the same thing she told her foster mom.

Luke passed Jaiden a glass of ginger ale. "Here, this'll help settle your stomach," he offered.

Jaiden took the glass from him and held it with both hands so she could take a drink. At first she had mentioned it looking like water with a lot of bubbles.

"It's soda but it can help with a stomach ache. My mom and dad used to give me some as a kid whenever I got an upset stomach."

Jaiden took a drink of the clear, carbonated soda, drinking the whole thing, before passing the glass back. Knowing the kid wasn't a big fan of soda, Luke only poured a small amount. She wiped the back of her hand along her mouth. "Thank you, Daddy."

Luke set the glass on the nightstand. "You're welcome, Tiger."

She turned to Lorelai, who was also getting back into bed. "And, thank you, Mommy."

Lorelai wrapped an arm around the kid and squeezed Jaiden to her. "You're welcome."

"Mommy, can I tell you one more thing?" she asked.

"Sure, sweetheart."

"Were you mad tonight?" The heartbreaking look had returned.

"You mean about throwing up in our bed? Nuh uh," she shook her head, shifting her pillows as Lorelai tried to get comfortable, lying backwards now.

Jaiden held onto Stanley and her blanket. Somehow, those had been saved from the line of fire. She stared down at them. Eventually, Jaiden shook her head.

Luke gently grabbed at her side. "Why would your mom be mad, Tiger?" he asked, encouragingly.

Her hold on her toy and blanket tightened as she chewed on her lip.

Lorelai sat up to lean forward. "What is it, hun?"

"I...I...I...grabbed the wrong book," the kid managed to say.

"Wrong book?" Lorelai exchanged a confused look with Luke. She then turned back to Jaiden to ask, "What book is that?"

"The one I draw in."

"Oh, were you worried about how we reacted to the naked drawings?" she guessed.

Jaiden nodded her head, slowly as she stared at the bed. "The one Jess gave me is what I use to practice in. I was going to bring the one Mal gave me that I draw all my action drawings in." A lone tear drifted down her cheek which Luke caught and wiped away, gently.

"Nobody was mad, sweetie," Lorelai assured her. "We were only surprised, that's all. We didn't think you drew stuff like that."

"It's how I got good at drawing people. The person on the video says you have to know a person's body shape," she explained, still holding her gaze on the bed.

"We know that now, sweetie. Don't worry." Lorelai rubbed a loving hand along Jaiden's opposite arm.

This time, Jaiden managed to look up to add, "I don't draw the pee pees or anything else private down there. I do draw a girl's breasts, though."

Luke suddenly started turning thirty shades of red and fidgeted where he was sitting. "Alright, how about we go back to bed, now," he announced and reached over to switch off his lamp before getting underneath the comforter and laying back on his pillow.

The gesture made Lorelai roll her eyes at her husband. "It's okay to draw boobs and stuff, sweetheart. We all have them, and soon, so will you when you're older."

Luke cleared his throat aggressively than he needed to. "Trying to sleep, here!"

Lorelai snickered but stopped when Jaiden hadn't. "Why don't we let Grandpa, here, sleep, and get some sleep, too. We have to be up early in the morning, after all."

Innocently but confused, Jaiden asked, "Why did you call Daddy, grandpa, for?"

"I was teasing him, because sometimes he acts like a grandpa." She snickered over at the back of Luke's head which Luke just ignored by this point. Lorelai had to stop again when Jaiden suddenly glared at her. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

"Daddy is nothing like Papa," Jaiden snapped as if offended.

Lorelai reached out towards Jaiden to touch her shoulder. "No, I know, hun. I didn't mean…" But Jaiden shook away from the touch, still glaring at her.

With Stanley and her Diego blanket in her arm, Jaiden climbed over her foster dad. She dropped onto the small space near the edge of the bed and snuggled beside him. Luke lifted his upper half to scoot over and gave the kid more room so she wouldn't end up rolling off during the night. The night after they had lost their mother, Luke and Liz had climbed into bed with William. Some time during the night, Liz had somehow taken over most of half, causing Luke to be pushed enough to roll off. Their parents had a pretty high bed, too, so it was quite a fall for a small child, causing everyone to wake up at that exact moment.

Luke had Jaiden lift up for a brief moment so he could pull the comforter out from under her, and draped it over her as Lorelai turned her light off. Softly, he told Jaiden, "your mom wasn't comparing me to your grandfather, Tiger. She was talking about grandpas in general who are nicer." Luke held an arm over her. "Okay?"

Jaiden just stared back at him. Even in the dark, he could see a worried expression on the kid's face. Eventually, Luke felt Stanley brush against him as she snuggled closer to him. All three exhausted, they managed to fall back to sleep. Lorelai took a little longer than the other two, thinking about the slip up. Even though, the kid was picking up on her sense of humor, she knew Jaiden would still miss one, here and there. It didn't make Lorelai feel any less guilty.


	47. Chapter 47

_**This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Oakley the husky (even though her owners would probably never see this).**_

Chapter 47

Everyone was up early to see Jaiden for her big day. Luke took care of breakfast, of course while Lorelai, Rory, and April made sure the kid got everything packed and ready to go. Rory checked off each item as it was placed inside the large, rolling suitcase they were letting Jaiden use. They also made sure to pack her Diego backpack of things she would want to keep on her during the bus trip up to the campsite. Jaiden was still quiet around Lorelai after what happened the night before. Thankfully, she was still willing to work with her so things could get done.

April opened the flashlight and made sure to put in the batteries while Lorelai and Jaiden folded each piece of clothing. Rory even went through their family photos to pick out the best ones they had so the kid had something to help remind her, she had people back home who loved and cared about her, and will be waiting for her when it was time to come home.

To help Jaiden even more, Lorelai packed one of her scarves which Rory asked about when she noticed. She explained it was another idea she had and called for Luke for him to go get one of his shirts.

"Why?" he questioned in return as he transferred a fully cooked pancake over to the pile.

"So we can pack it for Jaiden's trip!" she called back as if it were a normal thing to pack. It works for Paul Anka, why can't it help Jaiden, too? Luke was still skeptic when Lorelai had to end up explaining her reasoning and pointed out the huge difference between the two. "Just go get it before I pick for you."

Letting his wife win, he asked April to keep an eye on the food while he hurried upstairs and grabbed one of his flannel shirts.

"Here," he told her when he returned, holding it out to Lorelai.

She thanked him with one her big grins before folding the shirt and placing it inside with her scarf as Luke headed back to the kitchen where he thanked April, who returned to sorting all of Jaiden's hygiene stuff in a carrying case. The girls also made sure to attach labels to everything with Jaiden's name so nothing got mixed up with any of the other kids' stuff.

One of the letdowns for the kid was finding out she wouldn't be able to bring her boots since only tennis shoes and flip flops for the shower were only allowed. In fact the only boots allowed were the ones specific for hiking. Lorelai had asked Celia during one of her visits, but Celia had to tell them no. But the hat was allowed if that's what Jaiden wanted instead of a baseball cap.

Once the girls were finished and Jaiden was all packed, they sat down to eat breakfast. Jaiden was still a little nervous but still managed to eat a little of her breakfast. Because everyone wanted to see Jaiden off, Luke had to figure out how to fit the suitcase inside Lorelai's jeep along with five bodies and a dog, because apparently Paul Anka also wanted to see Jaiden off.

He ended up laying the suitcase on its side in the backseat and had Jaiden sit with her legs crossed while Rory and April had to pin their legs against the sides of the jeep. Paul Anka had to ride on Luke's lap in the front seat.

"You know, we could have taken my car," Rory pointed out once they were heading to Hartford. "I have plenty of trunk space for a suitcase."

"What are you talking about? We made it work," Lorelai brushed her oldest off.

Luke looked over at her. "You mean, I made it work," he reminded her.

"Whatever. The point is, everyone has a spot, including the suitcase."

"Easy for you to say, you're not cramped back here," said April.

"At least it's only one way," Luke pointed out as Paul Anka was lying across his lap.

"Besides, you know what they say. The family that crowds together, stays together," said Lorelai.

Rory stared over at her mother. "Who says that?"

"You know... _they_."

"Who's _they_?"

" _They_." Lorelai grinned up at the rear view mirror.

"Oh, right. I forget about _them_." Rory just rolled her eyes towards her window. There was still a hint of a smile, though.

On the way out of town, Lorelai did stop at the store and let Jaiden pick out a small, stuffed tiger and had Luke record himself singing the lullaby like she promised Jaiden the night before which Rory gladly got out to let the kid out, so she could quickly stretch her legs.

Eventually, they pulled into the parking lot of Celia's office where the kids were being picked up by three coach buses all lined up, one after the other, facing the exit. Lorelai parked on the other side where the foster parents and other caregivers parked. Once all three girls had climbed out, Luke reached in to pull out the suitcase and set it on the ground outside the jeep while Lorelai held onto Paul Anka's leash. Once the suitcase was out and the jeep was all locked up, the family headed over to get Jaiden checked in, with Luke pulling the suitcase behind him.

As the family grew closer, the more Jaiden walked closer to Luke's side as she squeezed Stanley in her arms, wearing her backpack on her back.

Luke looked down when he felt the kid brush up against his arm. He gently tapped her upper arm to get Jaiden's attention before offering her, his hand to hold onto. Jaiden unhooked her arm from around her toy and hooked her hand into his. Giving the kid an encouraging smile, they continued heading for the table where they saw Celia standing behind with a guy who looked part Korean. Before the family could reach the table, however, they were stopped by another guy with short, curly brown hair about Luke's height.

"Hey, welcome," he greeted them in a positively upbeat and cheerful attitude. "I'm Tyler." Tyler shook each of their hands, except for Jaiden. They introduced themselves in return before he kneeled down to her level and held up his right hand as if Tyler already knew who Jaiden was. "High five?" He turned his head, slightly, sounding hopeful.

Jaiden was still holding onto Luke's hand as she stared back at him. After a moment, she lifted her gaze up towards Luke, who gave her another encouraging smile. Turning back to Tyler, the kid let go of her foster dad's hand and timidly held her hand out to the guy, allowing him to gently high five it.

"Alright," Tyler said, happily. To the rest, he explained how every year for the past four years he had tried to get a high five from the kid, who always left him, hanging. "There's something different about ya, kiddo. I can see a new shine to you." Tyler gave her a kind smile. "Ready to have some fun this week?"

Jaiden nodded.

Being lower than the rest, Paul Anka had curiously poked his nose at Tyler's hands he had resting over his knees, trying to get some attention while they were talking. He didn't object at all and petted the back of the dog's neck.

"Hey there," he greeted the dog.

"I hope it's okay we brought him along," Lorelai said, apologetically. "He loves Jaiden and wanted to help see her off to camp."

Tyler shook his head. "No worries. As long as he's kept on a leash, he's fine," he assured. "In fact, some of our volunteers are bringing their dogs along for the kids."

Lorelai exchanged a look with the others.

"Pets are allowed?" Rory asked, surprised.

"Mm hm," he replied with a nod. "Well," Tyler stopped himself suddenly, now standing up again. "Dogs are allowed as long as they've been approved and have all their shots. We feel it can be therapeutic for some of the kids."

"Yeah, we've learned that with Jaiden, here." Lorelai smiled down at the kid.

"Yeah? You like animals?" Tyler leaned over, holding his hands on his knees.

She nodded.

"Does he have a name?" He pointed a finger at Stanley. To Luke and Lorelai's surprise, Jaiden responded but nobody could hear. Tyler had to lean in closer to hear, himself. "Stanley?"

She gave another nod.

"You wanna tell him what the name's from?" Lorelai tried to encourage the kid, more. Tyler tried to ask where the name was from but Jaiden clung to Luke's hand again. When she did, Tyler didn't push her to answer as not to overwhelm the kid, and assured they had all week if she wanted to tell him. Instead, he pointed out another volunteer who was standing a good distance away when they noticed Jaiden's gaze wander.

"That's Jessica and Jamie, there" he told her, motioning his head towards a couple talking with another volunteer, who basically had a cow lick sticking up in the front of his head. The couple were holding onto three leashes that had a Siberian husky dog on the end of each one. The husband, Jamie was tall and wore glasses while the wife, Jessica was shorter. Both each wore a baseball cap on their heads. "Would you like to go say hi?"

Jaiden hesitated in answering.

"We still have to get checked in, actually," Luke was the one to point out.

"Oh, okay. Well, how about this," Tyler lightly clapped his hands together and pointed them towards the check-in table, "Go get checked in and I can meet you over there. Let them know an animal lover has arrived." He gave Jaiden a playful smile her way. "That sound good?" When Jaiden still hesitated, he made sure to reassure her, they were nice people and one of their dogs was a rescue who had a rough beginning, too.

Parting ways, the family headed over to the table.

Celia was the first to greet them when another set of foster parents walked away. "Hey, guys," she said, cheerfully when they took their place. "Hi, Jaiden."

"Hey," Lorelai was the first to reply in the same cheery tone, followed by Luke.

"This is Mark," she introduced the guy who was standing beside her, who shook each of their hands.

"Pleased to meet you," he told each of them.

"Is this…?" Lorelai started to ask, assuming that was her husband. She was surprised to not see Jerry there.

When they figured out what Lorelai was referring to, the two corrected her and explained what Celia had told them before about starting the camp for the kids in care. Mark had been the one to approach them with the idea and have been partnering with them ever since.

While the humans were talking, Paul Anka had realized there was another dog on the other side of the table. Though, he had tugged on his leash, it was Jaiden who was the first person to notice. She ducked her head to look underneath the table.

"What's up, Jaiden?" April was the one to ask, looking for herself. That's when the others noticed the tail of a golden retriever attached to a leash tethered so it couldn't wander off.

The rest ducked their heads to see the golden retriever and Paul Anka trying to sniff at each other. It was Mark who introduced the golden retriever as Chica, and assured Jaiden, she could pet her.

Jaiden held her hand out first like the cartoon moose had taught her so Chica could sniff it. The golden retriever briefly sniffed it before happily leaning her head against the kid's hand.

"Chica loves people, especially kids," he explained as Rory and April reached out to pet her, as well, kneeling on either side of their foster sister.

They eventually moved on and got Jaiden all checked in. Celia pulled out a camp shirt for her from a box of shirts while Jaiden wrote her name on a name tag. Luke held her backpack and Stanley while the kid slipped the shirt on over her striped T shirt. Once they were all done, Tyler had called them over when he noticed and waved them over to meet the couple with the dogs.

Letting the next kid get checked in, the family headed over there. Jaiden seemed eager to see the dogs but was still a bit withdrawn and nervous as they grew closer, perking up but still walking right beside her foster dad. When they were in range, Tyler introduced them. Luke, Lorelai, Rory, and April each shook the couple's hands before turning their attention to the dogs, whom two couldn't wait to be petted by more people. Though, Lorelai made sure to hold Paul Anka at bay to see how he would react to the huskies. Jessica and Jamie also made sure to keep an eye on their dogs, as well, letting the dogs sniff each other.

With their attention on the dogs, neither of them had noticed the fluffy husky had completely ignored the new dog and instead checked out the quiet, timid kid. Luke was the first to notice as Jaiden did the same she did with Chica, letting the dog sniff her hand before petting it.

Since the husband, Jamie was holding the other two, Jessica was the next one to notice since she was the one holding onto the calmer husky. "This is Oakley," she introduced to Jaiden. As Oakley let Jaiden pet her, Jessica commented on how much she seemed to be already taking to Jaiden when Oakley wasn't as social as the other two were. Oakley was friendly, yes, but rarely did she warm up this fast to someone.

"I told them Oakley's your rescue dog," Tyler spoke up.

"Yep, we got her a few years ago. We later found out she may have been abused by a previous owner, by her last owner who had managed to rescue her but couldn't keep Oakley, herself," she explained.

Lorelai's heart pretty much shattered for the poor thing and sudden wanted to hug the dog. That is until Jessica pointed out the dog didn't let anyone hug her like she read Lorelai's mind or something.

"Jaiden may end up the first at this rate," said Rory, as she petted the grey and white husky, Memphis. It was apparent Memphis was the youngest of the three. Though, she was a fully grown dog, she still had some puppy left in her as the dog quickly moved from Rory, Lorelai, and April, in excitement. The third husky, Shelby, was tan and white with some black along her back. She wasn't as perky as Memphis was, but nonetheless, still enjoyed the pets. Thankfully, Paul Anka seemed to get along well with the huskies as they kept sniffing each other. Memphis looked like she wanted to play with Paul Anka. At one point, she got into a play position in front of him which made his tail wag like crazy as he panted happily.

The group was so focused, neither of them noticed Stephen and Mallory wander over until they spoke. While they greeted each other and made the usual small talk, Jaiden had stood up to shyly pat Mallory's arm.

Mallory leaned over to give the little girl, her ear. "Oh, you're welcome," she said after Jaiden whispered something to her. "Always glad to help out a fellow artist."

All of the volunteers were wearing the same shirt Jaiden had received with either jeans or or shorts. Though, one could barely tell Jaiden was wearing shorts since she told Lorelai, she wanted hers a little baggy on her.

Both Stephen and Mallory complimented on the kid's haircut. Mallory was the one to give the news that Jaiden was indeed in her cabin just has they had promised.

It was Rory who asked if Tyler, Jessica, and Jamie were also cabin counselors.

"I am," said Tyler. "I will be staying with some of the boys in the seven/eight year old age group." It was then he realized he should get back to greeting the other kids, making sure everyone knew where to go. "It was a pleasure meeting all of you," he told the adults and told Jaiden, he would see her later before moving on.

"And what about you?" Rory asked Jamie and Jessica, curiously.

"We're just volunteers," Jamie was the one to explain. "Since we have the dogs, we can't stay in one of the cabins with the kids. We're actually following up there with our camper, and we'll be around to interact with all of the kids."

"You know, make sure no one feels left out," Jessica added, looking at her husband before turning back to the rest.

"And I'll be looking out for the boys, eleven to twelve," said Stephen.

Jessica and Jamie also had to go mingle with the other kids so they could start meeting everyone. Since Stephen and Mallory had already made their rounds, they were able to stay and fill them in on how the week was going to go. Paul Anka was happy to meet more new people and receive more attention, who gladly gave it. They also made sure how Jaiden was feeling.

"It's going to be fine," Mallory assured the kid. "We will have so much fun, the week will fly by so fast."

Jaiden still wasn't sure and ended up motioning for Luke's ear to inform him, her stomach was starting to get that same feeling from last night, of butterflies flying around inside and suddenly clung to him.

Luke lifted the kid up onto his side, rubbing a hand along her back, underneath her backpack. "It's okay, Tiger," he also reassured her and sang for her. The tiger was inside her backpack for later.

"A lot of the kids are nervous and scared at the start of the week," Stephen explained. "By the end, though, most end up not wanting to leave." He chuckled.

"It's great you do this for them," said Rory, which April agreed.

"Throughout the year, kids are having to deal with being moved around different homes, school, visits, and all kinds of meetings," Mallory shrugged. "Some of them are dealt, or have been dealt some pretty hard hands. So, if we can give them at least one week to have fun and be able to be the kids that they are, that can mean the world of difference in their lives."

"I think that's great," Lorelai smiled. She moved her head to look around at the kids getting dropping off, ranging from twelve to four year olds. Some of the volunteers were already loading the bags into the storage compartments of the buses. In fact, they had been talking for quite a while that Lorelai was surprised when Mark called out through a megaphone, it was time to head out and for the volunteers to start loading the kids on to the buses.

"Come on, Jaiden. You can sit with Stephen and me," Mallory offered.

Stephen agreed.

Luke felt the kid squeeze him even tighter than she had been. It was hard for him to have to put her down. He gave her one last loving squeeze before forcing himself to put the kid down on her feet. That's when Rory and April, each, gave Jaiden, a hug, good-bye.

Lorelai held her arms out to offer a hug but Jaiden didn't move. It broke her heart to know the kid was leaving still upset with her. Lorelai hid it and assured Jaiden, Sookie, Liz, and TJ, and even herself, had already sent letters for her a couple days ago, so Jaiden should be getting them that day.

Jaiden still hadn't moved.

Mallory ended up having to gently take her by the hand so they could get on one of the buses.

Jaiden did eventually move her feet but to grab onto Luke again.

He kneeled to her level to give her one more hug. "It's only for a week, Tiger. We promise with our whole hearts we'll see ya again." Jaiden held on tight for a moment before Luke had to be the one to nudge away.

When Paul Anka stood up as if to follow the kid, Jaiden made sure to hug him, good-bye, as well. Though, when she let go to walk away, the dog let out a sad whine, not wanting to leave his human pup, his tail wagging like crazy.

By this point, tears were starting to show themselves on both sides of the kid's face as she went with Stephen and Mallory, who both tried to reassure her and encourage her.

Lorelai watched as Jaiden left with them. To her, it felt like the day Rory left for college. Wasn't this supposed to happen then, when the kid was grown up? She was about close to tears, herself. It especially hurt, knowing the kid seemed upset with her. Well, that is until Jaiden suddenly turned on her heel and bolted back to them when she had glanced back over her shoulder. She didn't run to Luke, this time. Instead, Jaiden dashed over and jumped on her, squeezing her arms around Lorelai's legs.

Lorelai pulled the kid away long enough to kneel to her level so she could hug Jaiden, in return.

"I will be right here when you come back, I promise. Okay, sweetie?" She felt Jaiden nod on her shoulder. "I love you so much, kid."

"Love you too," Jaiden said, softly.

The two held onto each other until they heard Mark call out once more for all the kids to board the buses. Lorelai forced herself to pull away.

"Go have lots of fun. Remember to take lots of pictures, alright?" Lorelai laughed for the kid.

Jaiden nodded.

Luke, Rory, and April, and even Paul Anka gave Jaiden one last hug before the kid finally went with her former foster parents.

The family watched as they eventually stepped onto the bus. Once the crowd thinned out, Luke, Lorelai, Rory, and April were able to move closer so they could wave towards Jaiden, who looked back through the window. By this point, Lorelai could not hold back any longer as her eyes watered. She managed to smile through the tears as she waved.

Even Luke managed to shed a tear or two, denying it when April noticed. Or, tried to deny it, at least.

Rory smiled. "Luke, you ol' softy," she teased the guy.

Luke just smiled as he waved up at Jaiden.

"Whatever," he said as if it wasn't a big deal. It was though. It was a very big deal. It was the second time they had to say good-bye to the kid since they brought her home. The difference this time being they knew for sure she would be coming home. It didn't make it any less easier.

Luke, Lorelai, and the older girls remained there even when the other foster parents and caregivers left. The check-in table had already been folded and loaded inside one of the storage compartments with the luggage. Mark and Celia each were the last to climb aboard. Celia made sure to reassure Luke and Lorelai, Jaiden would be well looked after before climbing aboard the bus Jaiden was on.

Soon, the buses started to pull forward towards the parking lot exit, one after the other.

Luke wrapped his arms around Lorelai and April which Lorelai wrapped hers around him and Rory as they watched the buses leave. Paul Anka was spread out on all fours in the direction of the buses. His tail was going again. The last to leave, they noticed was a red jeep with a camper behind. They assumed the jeep belonged to the couple with the huskies.

It was proven when Jessica waved as they drove by. One of the dogs was already sticking their head out the side passenger window, looking to be Memphis, her tongue happily hanging out.

They waved back as the couple drove by, soon leaving the family alone in the parking lot. Some of the cars and long, white vans were also starting to leave. Some had also lingered behind to wave good-bye to the kids but not as long as Luke, Lorelai, and the girls did.

Eventually, they headed back to their own jeep. No one said a word, not even when they piled inside. It felt empty without Jaiden there in the backseat even when Rory offered Paul Anka to sit between her and April. Even he looked sad as Paul Anka held his head on Rory's leg. It got even harder when Lorelai started the jeep and Jaiden's favorite band was playing on the radio which she pointed out.

The drive home was in complete silence. A part of Lorelai wanted to tag behind the buses and a part of Luke hoped she would. It took every fiber of the woman's being not to, especially when they had to pull out in the opposite direction. But Lorelai somehow managed, even with the voice screaming inside her head to make an illegal U-turn and chase them down.

It was going to be a long week for sure.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **All of the characters used in this chapter are based off of YouTubers I watch. In order of appearance: _Markiplier_ (Mark), _Apocolypto_12_ (Tyler), _GonetotheSnowDogs_ (Jessica and Jamie), _JoshJepson_ (unnamed volunteer), _Stephenplays_ (Stephen), _MalMakes_ (Mallory). Tyler is actually a streamer on Twitch (same user name). They're all awesome people if you want to check them out! :)**

 **Also, the channel, _GonetotheSnowDogs_ was nominated for a People's Choice Award. So, if you vote in that kind of thing, it would be awesome if you could give them one, too!**


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48

The family got back to the house and tried to take their mind off missing their little Jaiden. Luke went to check in at the diner to make sure Zack and Caesar hadn't burned the place down. April came along to help out for the lunch rush.

Lorelai decided to check in at the inn and make sure Michel hadn't scared anyone away. Rory also went along to help out there, as well. While chatting with Sookie, the girls found out she had sent the kid some muffins for her care package.

"Didn't I mention the kids aren't allowed to have food in the cabin?" Lorelai asked.

"No," she replied, now horrified. "You don't think they'll throw them away, do you? I spent hours making those extra special for her."

"I'm sure they won't throw them out. They'll probably save them and let Jaiden have them at meal time," Rory tried to cheer her up.

"God, I hope so."

Lorelai joined in to help cheer her up. "Or, they'll serve them with a meal for everyone. Either way, they will get eaten."

Things grew silent as the ladies stood there, awkwardly, not saying anything until Sookie couldn't hold out any longer and apologized profusely.

"I'm sure everything will be just fine, Sook." Lorelai reached out to touch her best friend's shoulder.

Despite trying to stay busy, Luke, Lorelai, Rory, and April still couldn't help wonder how Jaiden was doing, and whether or not she was having a good time.

Later, that evening, Luke surprised Lorelai by taking her out for dinner that he had planned a week in advance, while the girls stayed home and watched TV together. For a change of pace, instead of going to Sniffy's, where they normally went, either just them or as a family, Luke decided to take Lorelai to a nice restaurant where he had called ahead and reserved a special table for the two of them. It wasn't too fancy that the Gilmores would eat at, but was nicer than a sports bar.

Both of them dressed for the occasion, including him. Luke drove this time and played the gentleman card the whole night, even going as far as coming around to open her door for her and helped Lorelai out.

Inside the restaurant, Luke gave his name before the hostess led them to their table. Shortly after, their server came over and took their drink order, giving them time to look through the menu.

Throughout the evening, Luke and Lorelai talked and enjoyed each other's company, seeming like they were having a great time. Neither one could stop smiling, especially whenever one of them said something the other thought was funny. Of course a Luke rant slipped through, making Lorelai roll her eyes. It was nice, and they were glad the two went out and did this. Both Luke and Lorelai desperately needed a night like this. Ever since they met Jaiden, there hasn't been a time set aside for just the two of them. The kid had, had their full attention and been the center of everything. So, sometime after Luke found out Jaiden would be gone for a week, he decided it would be the best time to take his first love of his life out and treat her like royalty.

However, even though they tried to keep the conversation going and enjoy the evening, neither Luke, nor Lorelai could ignore their littlest girl.

Lorelai stared into what was left of her refill of an alcoholic drink, running a finger along the top of the glass as she held it in her hand.

Luke noticed. "You're thinking about her, aren't you?" he told her.

"Uh, no," she tried to deny the accusation, quickly.

Of course, Luke could see right through her, giving Lorelai, a knowing smirk.

Lorelai let out a sigh towards her drink.

Reaching across the table, Luke took ahold of her other hand that was lying on the table and gave it a loving squeeze. "She's gonna be fine."

"I know." Lorelai paused until she glanced up again his way which Luke smiled for her. "It's just… I miss her."

Luke took his hand back. "So do I," he admitted.

"It doesn't help I only got to see her for, like, a day before she had to leave again," Lorelai threw up the hand that had been holding the glass, towards him. "Seriously, why did you have to take her camping at the last possible second?"

"Are you seriously mad at me?" he asked, staring at her.

Lorelai dropped her elbows on the table as she dropped her face into her hands. She then let out another sigh. "No, not really. It just stinks I only got to see her for a day which ended in me, messing up and throwing us backwards."

He leaned his arms on the table. "I'm sure Jaiden forgives you. She did end up running back to hug you."

Lorelai let out a noise of frustration. "I was so looking forward to these two weeks of just me and Jaiden, for some mother/daughter bonding, only to find out she has to go to camp."

"We knew something like this could come up when we started this. Celia told us they have events throughout the year, on top of court hearings and other meetings."

She dropped her hands into a folded position. "I know, I know…" Lorelai held her eyes closed towards the table as she trailed off into her thoughts.

"What?" he urged her gently.

She let out a soft sigh before opening her eyes but didn't lift her head.

Luke reached across the table again, gently taking a hold of her hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze. "Hey, talk to me. What's wrong?"

Lorelai finally managed to look up into his eyes. I guess...I've been a little…" She paused in hesitance.

"A little, what?"

Softly, Lorelai breathed in through her nose and softly blew air back out. "Jealous."

Luke blinked back at the confession in confusion. "Of who? Me?"

She nodded slowly.

"How come?"

Lorelai gave a slight shrug, looking away before looking at him again. "I just find it funny you're the one who was skeptic about the whole thing and you're the one who's been having a breeze, and I've had to struggle through. It was my idea to try adoption. I did the research, I filled out the paperwork. I'm the one who said, 'hey, let's help out a kid in need of a loving family,' while you were freaked out about it."

"You think it's been a breeze for me?" he questioned in disbelief.

"You connected with her first, starting with the same weird taste in music, then it was the cooking, then it was that song. Then sports, and now camping and fishing?"

Luke could not believe what he was hearing. "Are you seriously mad at me for bonding with our soon to be daughter, first?"

"No, I'm not mad…," Lorelai squeezed the bridge of her nose as she held her eyes shut, tight. "I'm glad Jaiden was able to bond with you. God knows the kid needed a real father figure."

She looked up again. "I know it's stupid to think this way when I already had that with Rory, and I guess I'll admit it's cute how much Jaiden looks up to you, and sweet how she admires your opinion when she isn't sure of herself." Lorelai shook her head, dropping her gaze towards the table once more. "I don't know."

He was still holding onto her hand. Now, he was massaging his thumb in circles against it. "Trust me. It has not been a breeze for me, either. It killed me every time I had to pin her down during one of her freak-outs, both while she was awake and the nightmares. And, the kid still flinches whenever I accidentally brush up against her or anything that has to do with touching her. Even a hug sometimes causes a flinch. That kills me even more."

"But, at least she seems to enjoy hanging out with you," she pointed out. "Whenever I try, it seems like Jaiden regrets doing it in the end."

"That's not true," Luke tried to tell her, firmly.

"The balls? The freak-outs where I barely manage to dodge? Not to mention, just last night, just after we finished having another heart to heart?"

"It just takes time, babe. We're unraveling eight years of traumatic nightmares, here. That doesn't happen overnight."

Lorelai shrugged. "I'm not saying it'll fix itself overnight. I know it won't, but when I watch you with her, I don't ever see or hear Jaiden freaking out on you except when you intervene. You don't seem get the setbacks. Not like I do, at least."

"Listen." Luke pushed his plate out of the way to lean on his arms. "I know this doesn't seem fair and I understand you were hoping for another kid like Rory. Rory was a great kid. Hell, she still is a great kid."

That made Lorelai smile.

"But, Jaiden isn't like Rory. Jaiden is her own person. She's a great kid as well, but in her own great way who just happens to like more of the things that I like. It was good one of us could connect with her on some level because it was able to break down those walls so eventually the two of you could bond on some level. I know one thing, you're gonna be needed in the coming years when Jaiden hits the teen years." Luke smiled at that. "I don't think I could get through April's teen years without ya."

Lorelai couldn't hold back the laughter on that one. "Yeah, you are pretty clueless when it comes to teenagers," she harmlessly teased him. "I already had to give Jaiden, the Talk, yesterday."

Luke flinched his head back in surprise. "Why did you have to do that?"

"Well, Jaiden asked about how we met and it escalated from there." Lorelai then explained about the talk the two had in the jeep on the way to the hair salon. "So, I had to tell her in case she linked the two together, and since no one really explained to her, what happened to her, I figured it was probably best if I did."

He ended up finding himself, nodding. "As much I hate that she knows what sex is, you're right. Jaiden probably should know what happened to her. At least part of it." Luke reached over to take a swig of his drink.

"You should of seen the look on her face when I had to dump all of that onto her," Lorelai shook her head. "Breaks my heart just thinking about it. It was really great to hear she's still got some childhood innocence when she asked if I had eaten Rory." She forced out a small smile.

"That's the way it should be," Luke agreed with a slight shrug. He stared inside his glass, thinking. There was a pause for a moment as the couple sat in silence. Luke was the one to break the silence. "Back while we were camping, Jaiden, uh… She asked why we had chosen her out of all of the other kids."

Lorelai smiled at that. "What did you say?"

He lifted his gaze from inside his glass. "I told her how she was actually my pick. I had to explain right away, it didn't mean you wanted someone else over her, when she gave me a worried expression."

"I couldn't even decide," she admitted. "Are you sure we can't have fifty kids?"

"As much as I thought about those other kids thinking they had been rejected, I'm sure there is a family out there for each of them." Deep down, though, Luke knew some of those kids might not even be adopted and would end up growing up in foster care, alone. It was heartbreaking just thinking about it.

Lorelai knew it, too. "I hope so," she agreed this time.

He ended up telling her what Luke had told Jaiden. "I don't know. Jaiden just stuck out from the rest and clung to my heart. Kind of like what I said before about romantic relationships and having that gut feeling, I guess. I just had a feeling Jaiden was the kid. _Our kid_."

"Honestly, I can't see our family without her, now."

"Just because it seems like a breeze for me, doesn't mean the two of you won't find something you have in common," Luke shrugged. "You just have to keep trying."

"Yeah," Lorelai murmured barely over a whisper.

"It wasn't easy for us when we finally got together and look at us now," he pointed out, shrugging a hand part way up.

Lorelai smiled again at him. "Yeah, you're right." Changing the subject, she asked, "how do you think she's doing, right now?"

Luke tilted his head a little to the side. "Well, if what that Tyler said, is anything to go by, about never getting a high five in the times Jaiden's gone, I'd said, she's probably doing just fine." He smiled for her, causing Lorelai to return it.

"You know what, I think so, too." Lorelai then leaned forward which Luke followed suit before locking into a loving, passionate kiss.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I'm so sorry it took so long to update!**

 **Some of you asked about seeing Jaiden at camp. Since this story has been from Luke and Lorelai's point of views, I can't do that. But I can show tiny snippets through letter form that I do have planned for next chapter. :)**


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49

Luke and April left early the next morning for their long drive down to the marina where Luke stores his boat during the year. Lorelai and Rory got up to see them off, waving as they watched the truck pull out of the driveway. Before the two left, both Luke and April made Lorelai swear she wouldn't open any letters Jaiden might send, without them. Luke was just about ready to make her take a blood oath until Lorelai reassured him for the hundredth time they would wait. Rory also promised to stay for the first letter. If it was by Tuesday, that is, because she had told her boss, she'd be back on Wednesday.

Despite it originally used to be the two of them, it still felt a little strange having the house all to themselves. Not that the girls didn't try. Sunday night, they ordered Chinese and got a lot of junk food from Doose's to watch some of their favorite movies.

Luke called that evening to let the girls know he and April had gotten there, safe, and asked if they had heard from Jaiden. One would think no phone call would mean Jaiden was doing just fine and having the time of her life, but considering the kid was quiet and rarely spoke up for herself, made Luke still worry.

Lorelai tried to reassure him, everything was probably just fine and they had nothing to worry about. Deep down, she was just as worried as he was.

All four still tried to continue their lives as best they could.

During their trip, April had already somehow persuaded her dad to get a pedicure with her, who had said no every summer up until this point. Luke wasn't even sure how he had lost that argument but there he was, sitting in the chair while a Chinese woman did things to his feet he never thought he would ever let someone do.

"To top it off, I'm pretty sure the woman was talking about me to her co-worker in Chinese," Luke was ranting to Lorelai when he called home, Tuesday night.

"I'm sure they were not talking about you." Lorelai couldn't help feel tickled that thee, Luke Danes, had gotten a pedicure.

"They kept looking in my direction while they chit chatted with each other," he argued.

"Well, maybe they were saying good things about your feet," she shrugged.

Luke wasn't buying it. "I highly doubt it." He then vowed this was the first and only time he would allow himself to be talked into doing anything like this, in which Lorelai teasingly told him they had already scheduled him a makeover. "You're not funny," Luke informed her despite both Lorelai, Rory, and April giggling. It actually made him miss his little tiger even more, knowing she'd be siding with him right about now. Even though parents weren't supposed to have favorites, Jaiden was looking to be high in the running for the top spot on his favorites list.

All in good fun, though, Lorelai changed the subject and decided to let Luke and April know they had received two letters from Jaiden that day. That, indeed, lifted the guy's spirits from the humiliating ordeal he had to go through that day. April could hardly contain herself, moving the chair she was sitting in, closer to her dad.

Up until this point, Lorelai and Rory had been watching the mail every day, hoping to find anything from the kid. The fact there wasn't any mail on Sundays made things harder as they would have at least gotten one of the letters a day sooner. Going by the fact Jaiden sent two meant she was sending a letter, daily, and did not know about the _no mail delivery on Sundays_ rule. Nonetheless, all four of them were very elated to hear from the kid finally.

Having Rory hold the phone they had on speaker phone, Lorelai opened the first letter from Saturday. She couldn't help her hands shake with excitement as if they were waiting for Rory's college acceptance letter all over again.

Once the sealed envelope was cut open, Lorelai pulled out the folded stationery pages and unfolded them.

"De...er Daddy, Mommy, April, and Rory," she read carefully and paused to point out, "apparently we're deer." Not in a mean way, but in a lighthearted way. Also, all four of their names were misspelled.

Luke of course was confused. "What?"

"Nothing. Jaiden spelled dear with two E's like the animal," she explained, tickled.

"Mom," Rory scolded.

"Alright, alright." Lorelai then continued, stumbling a bit, trying to decipher the other misspellings. "The...first? Day of camp was good. We eight?" She paused on the number eight written, numerically, randomly in the middle of a sentence before realizing Jaiden meant the word, _ate_. "We ate ham...boogers and hot dogs… Good lord, what are they feeding those kids over there?"

"I'm pretty sure Jaiden means hamburgers and hotdogs, and not pig snot and overheated dogs," Rory corrected her mother, slightly annoyed.

"How do you know? They could be," Lorelai said, enjoying the kid's misspellings at this point.

"Just continue," Luke spoke up again which April agreed with eagerness.

"Fine. You're all no fun," she pouted and continued, deciphering as best she could. "After lunch we were called into our groups. I'm in Mal's group but you know that already." Lorelai shared a smile with Rory as Luke shared one with April, by the way Jaiden had worded that last part.

"The other girls seem nice but they keep talking about someone called Zack...F-wrong and a...high school...music?" Lorelai exchanced a confused look with Rory, who just shrugged.

April was the only one who wasn't confused and assumed who the girls were talking about. "She probably means Zac Efron from that Disney flick, _High School Musical_. It's pretty popular among some of the girls at my school."

"What about the Jo Nuts brothers?" Lorelai asked, skimming the next sentence.

"You mean the Jonas brothers?"

She glanced at the letter. "Uh… She has Jo Nuts written here, but sure."

"The closest I know of is the Jonas brothers who is also popular among the same girls who likes Zac Efron and _High School Musical_ ," April explained. "Though, if Jaiden liked that _Hannah Montana_ movie we saw, she'll probably be a fan of them, too."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" asked Rory.

"Personally, I loathe the whole Disney Channel thing, but since Jaiden is technically a preteen, or getting close, I wouldn't be surprised if she gets into the whole teen popstar phase at some point," she shrugged.

"Great, now I'm curious," Lorelai said, shrugging a hand up beside her.

"What does it say next?" Rory asked, now sounding like a kid being read a bedtime story.

Lorelai returned her attention to the letter. "After that we went to our cabin where we picked our bunks. I got the bottom bunk closest to Mal's who has a bed in the back of the cabin behind a wall." Lorelai paused to question, "the counselors get a privacy wall but the kids don't?"

She then continued when Rory only gave another shrug. "We hung out on our porch, talking. The girls tried talking to me but I was too nervous to talk so I just listened. Then we went back to where we... _ate_ …" There was another random number eight in the middle of the sentence again. Since Luke had a comic book made for father's day, he guessed why Lorelai was having a hard time reading Jaiden's handwriting. "...and listened to Mark talk and had us play ice breaker games to get to know everybody. We played games until it was dinner time. We had something called sloppy joes. It was like a spaghetti sandwich without the noodles. They always serve it the first night. I like it but other Mommy wouldn't like it. The meat always falls out when I take a bite."

That last part made all four of them smile.

"Hence the sloppy part," Rory nodded.

Lorelai flipped over to the next page. "At the end of dinner, they passed out the mail. I got so many things. I got letters from Daddy, Mommy, Rory, April, Uncle TJ and Aunt Liz, Babette and Morey, Miss Patty, and even my new friends. I did not think I would get so much mail. I never got that much before. Thank you so much. Oh, yeah, Aunt Sookie made me muffins. I shared them with Mal and the other girls and they loved them Even...Men...fis got one? I left the extra muffin on the table and she jumped up and grabbed it when they were walking by. Men...fis loved it."

Lorelai stopped again to ask if she was reading that name right, forgetting who Jaiden was referring to.

It was Rory who figured it out. "Oh, I think she's talking about one of those dogs that couple had. The dog with the same name as the city? I'm pretty sure it's Memphis." April agreed.

"Oh yeah, huh? I forgot they had dogs up there," Lorelai suddenly remembered.

"Hopefully, Sookie didn't add chocolate to the muffins," said Luke, remembering what happened to Paul Anka.

"No, Sookie said they were blueberry nut muffins." That was relief. Sookie already was anxious about the possibility of Jaiden not being able to have them. They didn't want to add getting a dog sick, or worse, to the list. Regardless though, at least Sookie would be happy to hear her muffins were a hit.

"Now, we are back in our cabin getting ready for bed. I'm really scared and wish Daddy was here. It was dark going to the bathroom and back here. One of the girls saw my...blanket?... and said her little sister likes Diego and that she is three. Then she asked if I was sure I was in the right cabin and laughed. Then when I hugged Stanley and my tiger, the girl on top of me heard it and told the other girls. The same girl laughed again and asked again if I was sure I was in the right cabin."

The joy left their faces when they heard Jaiden was being picked on.

"Another girl told her to stop and the girl just said, whatever. Mal came over to tell everyone to be nice to each other and let us stay up a little bit more if we were quiet and stayed in our own bed. So I decided to write all about today. Mal made sure I was okay and gave me a hug and said she liked my blanket. She especially likes there is a cat on it. I got to go. Mal says it's lights out. Good night. Love, Jaiden. P.S. Give Paul Anka a hug and kiss for me."

Speaking of, Paul Anka immediately perked his head up when he heard his name mentioned. Lorelai called him over, patting the couch right beside her for the dog to leap up there. He turned around once, before settling down. She then reached over to give him the hug and kiss, letting Paul Anka know who it was from.

Rory was the next to speak after she was finished reading. "Aw, poor Jaiden. The first day seemed like it went well right up until the end, there."

"At least somebody else stood up for her, though, besides Mal," April said. "That was awesome of the kid."

"Hopefully, that kid didn't deter Jaiden from playing the song I recorded for her, again." Luke's protective dad senses were tingling all over and wanted so badly to hold his little tiger.

Lorelai couldn't agree more. "Me too." That had been a terrific idea. It would be a shame for it to go to waste just because another kid was mean about it.

"What's the other letter say?" April asked, reminding them, they still had Sunday's letter to read.

Settling Saturday's aside, Lorelai cut into the next one while Luke shifted the phone to his other hand when his arm was feeling tired from holding it up.

"Aw, we're still deer," Lorelai lightheartedly pointed out the misspelling which Rory scolded her mom once more. She just cleared her throat and started reading, throwing a pouting glance Rory's way. "Today, we woke up at seven and got dressed before going back to the mess hall. Oh yeah. I forgot in the last letter that Grandma and Grandpa also mailed me a package. She gave me more bug spray and hand stuff that smells weird… a-bell-a?"

"A-bell-a?" Rory questioned, leaning over to see the word for herself.

"Your parents sent a bell?" Luke also questioned.

"I think she means an umbrella. I only packed her a jacket because my mind didn't think to pack an umbrella. Of course my mother would send one," said Lorelai.

"We have got to teach this kid how to spell," April said, continuously shaking her head, in a slow manner. Having smart girls first, neither Luke nor Lorelai hadn't gotten to experience the kid handwriting.

Lorelai listed off what else Jaiden had wrote her mother had sent, most of it were things Emily would always get on her about whenever they took a trip, growing up, including an extra sweater. Lorelai just rolled her eyes to herself at the list. Not because of Jaiden but of her mother. At least Jaiden was double prepared for anything.

"After breakfast, they took whoever wanted to, to Chapo… _Chapel Rock_ , where we had church. Jordan was the leader and we got to talk about God and learn about Jesus. Jordan says Jesus was hurt too but he did it because he loves us and let us share anything we wanted to talk about. We got to pray and accept Jesus into our hearts and then he and his wife and his brother and his wife taught us some church songs." It was also clear, Jaiden didn't know what a comma was, as it felt like Lorelai had to take a breath, now and then, between sentences. "We went back to the mess hall where we eat where everyone else was playing more games. I guess they also got to share stories too if they wanted but didn't want to have to go to church. I saw Jessica and Jamie again with their dogs. The dogs were very happy to see me a-speck-a-lee… _especially_ O-key," which Jaiden meant Oakley, one of the couple's other dogs. "I was happy to see her, too. All the dogs. We played another game until it was time for lunch. This time, we _ate_ ," yet again, the number eight was randomly thrown in, "sub sand witches?"

Lorelai paused once again to question, "Seriously, what are they feeding those kids?"

Rory did not even protest this time. She just told her mom to continue.

"After lunch, we went back to our cabin to change into our swimsuits. We then rode in a big, white van to the lake where we and another cabin, in another van got to go swimming. Guess what? Jessica and Jamie and their dogs came too. Oakley doesn't like getting wet so Jessica just walked her on shore. While the other girls went swimming, I got to help Jamie look for cool rocks. I didn't know rocks could be cool. We digged, _dug_ around the not deep part of the lake and walked around with Oakley, while Jessica changed with Shelby and Men- Memphis so she could hang out with the other girls. Jessica asked me if I had ever been camping before beside camp so I got to tell her all about when we went camping, Daddy."

Luke smiled at being called out in the letter, directly, and about being able to talk about their camping trip. He caught April smirking at him. She was happy for her dad, though, and for Jaiden.

Lorelai continued. "After the lake, we went back to camp to shower and change. We had some time before dinner where we hung out with the cabin nearby. I was climbing a tree when the girl who told the other girl that made fun of me to stop came over and wanted to talk. She climbed up too and is a whole lot better than me. She has a foster mom and dad she calls mom and dad, too and gets to stay with them for as long as she wants."

Lorelai had to stop to take a deep breath. "Holy cow, kid. Learn to write shorter sentences," she stated before continuing, switching to the next page. She wasn't angry at Jaiden or her writing. It was a little frustrating, to be honest. "They might even adopt her too. We talked and hung out until Mal told us it was time to go to dinner. We had pasta this time but with white sauce instead. They forgot to give us mail today. I was kind of sad because I was looking forward to it." That proved Jaiden didn't know about there being no mail on Sundays which Lorelai made a mental note to inform Jaiden in her next letter. She had made a point to write the kid every day until Thursday.

"When we finished dinner, we went back to the cabin to change into our pajamas. But we wasn't, _weren't_ ," Lorelai corrected herself as she read, "going to bed yet. We had to put our shoes back on and our jackets to go to Chapo, _Chapel_ Rock again. It wasn't for church this time. The grownups made a bonfire where the whole camp got to sit around. Stephen," Jaiden ended up spelling his name with a V instead but Lorelai assumed it was the one they knew, "brought his guitar and we all sang campfire songs. We also sang the campfire song from _Spongebob Squarepants_. It was funny when we tried to sing as fast as we could." That pretty much went right over their heads since neither of them has ever seen _Spongebob Squarepants_. Rory admitted to watching a few episodes with Gigi, but didn't recall watching one with a campfire song.

"They also passed out popcorn and marshmallows for a snack." Lorelai stopped again to input, "What? No s'mores? That's the only good thing about camping," before continuing which Rory agreed with this time. "By the time we got back to our cabin, we were all tired. I didn't sleep good the first night because I had a nightmare and Mal had to wake me up. Some of the other girls was not happy to be woke up and so tonight, the mean girl told me not to be a baby tonight because she was very tired. I'm act...air-lee…" Most of Jaiden's letters Lorelai was able to decipher what the kid was trying to say. Some was a bit of a struggle. "... _Actually_ , I'm writing this with my flashlight under the blanket. It's getting hard to keep my eyes open so I'll close for now. I love you, Daddy. I love you, Mommy. I love you, Rory. I love you, April." Where the love should be, were actually tiny hearts drawn in its place. "I love and miss you, Paul Anka. Oh yeah, I guess I miss you all, too." Underneath, Jaiden had drawn a bigger heart, quickly scribbled in and underneath the heart, she wrote, "Love, Jaiden." The next line said, "P.S. Daddy, Jessica invited us to go camping at the end of the summer with them. Can we go?"

Luke was caught off guard by the sudden question. "Us?"

"I think she means you and her are invited," April said.

"Are you going, Luke?" Rory was the one to ask.

"It sounds like Jaiden wants to go."

He shrugged. "As long as it doesn't conflict with the trial, I don't see why not. Since I don't have access to a mailbox to send a reply, Lorelai, can you let her know?"

"I sure can," Lorelai replied with a smile, folding each of the letters back inside their envelopes.

"Well, it sounds like day two was a success for Jaiden," Rory said, changing the subject back to the last letter.

"Too bad a nightmare got her on the first night," April also added.

"She doesn't say if she played the song, though." Lorelai looked through the second letter, skimming through both pages again before she returned it to its envelope. "Hopefully, that mean girl didn't actually scare her after all."

"Well, we'll find out in tomorrow's letter."

"Too bad I have to leave in the morning." Rory frowned at having to leave and poked a finger at her mom. "You better call me on one phone, and Luke and April on the other, missy."

"How am I supposed to hold two phones and read at the same time?" Lorelai questioned.

She smirked, folding her arms on top of the pillow she grabbed from beside her, still holding the phone in one of them. "I'm sure you can figure something out."

"And if I don't, you'll be outta luck, kid."

Rory gasped. "You won't actually leave me out of it, would you?"

Lorelai just grinned. "Maybe." But, she could probably come up with something.

With both letters read, Lorelai and Rory finished their phone conversation and said good night to Luke and April before hanging up.

There was a moment of silence where neither one said anything until it was Rory who finally broke it.

"I'm really glad Jaiden's having a good time. For the most part."

Lorelai exchanged a smile. "Yeah," she agreed. It was definitely relieving to hear Jaiden was doing well. Not to mention, Jaiden still got to have and even share the muffins.

All four of them could not wait to hear how yesterday and today went. It was like they were slowly reading a book and really wanted to read the next chapter to see what happens next.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Jordan and his family is from a YouTube channel called, Blimey Cow. Thought I would point that out since I did it, a couple chapters ago.**


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Rory sadly had to leave once again the following morning. The two hugged each other, good-bye, before she had to slide into her car and head back to New York, promising to call that evening to check in. Unfortunately, Rory's boss was short on people that day and asked if she could come in and work on an assignment that ended up taking her longer and into the night, that was due the very next day. So, Rory had to call home and let her mom know not to worry about having to call both her and Luke, and figure out how to hold both phones and read Jaiden's next letter. Lorelai was bummed to hear Rory would be busy that evening, but the young woman promised to come back and visit this weekend.

"Even better, I can get the rest of Jaiden's week straight from her," Rory pointed out.

Lorelai still frowned. "You sure, hun?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. I knew what I was signing up for when I took this job. It was inevitable," she reminded her mom.

Lorelai smiled. "Okay. Well then, I'll see ya in a couple days." With that, the girls ended the call and let each other go for now.

When Lorelai got home, that evening, the first thing she did was check the mail for any more letters from Jaiden. She flipped through until finding one addressed to _my family_ in Jaiden's kid-messy handwriting. Lorelai had made sure to mail off her next letter to Jaiden, that morning, only this time, she went to the post office to pay the extra postage so Jaiden could get it the next day since it would arrive on the day she would be coming home.

It took all Lorelai had not to rip the letter open, right then and there, and wait until Luke called. She had gotten dinner on the way home, so heading inside, Lorelai headed for the kitchen to grab a plate on her way to the living room, to turn on the TV.

Lorelai flipped through the channels before landing on one of her favorite shows, despite being a rerun she'd seen over a hundred times, and enjoyed her dinner while kicking back to relax. The show was just about over when Luke had finally called which she yelled at him for since it was at the best part.

Luke just rolled his eyes before asking how her day was.

Lorelai gave him a run through of her day, making sure to include the highlights. She then asked how his and April's day was, making sure to include if there was anything else April had talked him into.

"We did some fishing and a little father-daughter talking," he replied with a shrug.

April called out from the other side of the small room of their boat, "He means I did most of the talking!"

Lorelai snickered. "Sounds about right. So, you two having a good time, then?"

"Yeah, it's been really great. Not gonna lie, it's been hard not to worry and think about Jaiden, but I do have more than one kid, who also deserves my attention." Luke smiled over at April, who smiled back at him.

"It's okay, Dad. Really," she tried to reassure him, humbly.

"You're just as important, April. Don't be humble," he told her, firmly.

April finished making her sandwich and pouring herself some lemonade before coming over. "Hey, it is genetic."

Luke looked at her, clueless. "What is?"

April rolled her eyes just as he had done. Except, it was more teenager-like. She sat down at the small kitchen table he was sitting at. Luke was sitting sideways on the chair with his back up against the wall.

"Alright you two." As much as Lorelai was enjoying listening to the two, she really wanted to get to Jaiden's next letter. She let them know Rory had to work and wouldn't be able to join them, and immediately tore into the letter. Luke was already on speaker phone so as soon as Lorelai had the letter out and unfolded, she began.

This time, Jaiden talked about her adventures of going horseback riding Monday morning and working up the courage to tell the girl, Jackie, that's been picking on her, that she was doing something wrong with the horse she was riding and not believing her until the volunteer riding with them came over and informed the girl, Jaiden was right. On the way back to the mess hall, the girl ended up tripping her and pretending like it was an accident even though it wasn't. The girl Jaiden had climbed the tree with, Sydney, helped her up and told off Jackie. Thankfully, Mallory had seen the whole thing and took care of it, as well as made sure Jaiden was alright.

April interrupted, pausing to finish chewing first. "Boy, Jackie sounds like a real peach," she said, sarcastically.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Lorelai agreed while looking at the letter.

"It's probably a good thing we won't be there when you go to pick up Jaiden."

"Why's that?" she asked.

"Because I would probably ask Jaiden to point the kid out and go over to give her a piece of my mind," April replied.

"Now, what would that solve?" Lorelai smiled, loving how much of Luke, Jaiden was actually bringing out in April, despite how much the teen had always said they weren't alike in any way.

"It would solve things by letting the kid know not to mess with my baby sister. Doesn't Jaiden have an event to go to at the end of the summer? She'll probably see her, there."

Oh, yeah. Lorelai had completely forgotten about the back to school event at the beginning of August Jaiden also had to go to. Which meant, if Luke and Jaiden did go camping again, they would have to be back by then.

Lorelai eventually returned to reading the rest of the letter. For Monday's lunch, the kids had pizza and cookies for dessert before going back to their cabins to enjoy some quiet time, whether to sleep or do something quiet. Jaiden worked in her sketchbook, drawing a picture of her horse, and mentioned Mallory, Sydney, and a couple of the other girls liked it.

For the afternoon until dinner, was their time to do archery, which they had to share with the boys in Tyler's cabin. That morning, they were paired with the girls their age that was near them.

Tyler offered to help Jaiden as the other volunteers helped the other kids taking their turn. Jaiden admitted getting scared with the guy nearby but let him help her like Luke would and Tyler was even nice like Luke was. She didn't get a bull's eye but she was able to hit the target at least once, and was very happy to have done it.

Lorelai then read about how they had lasagna, garlic bread, and salad for dinner, however, as she kept reading on where Jaiden started talking about Monday's mail, she couldn't help her voice taper off.

Luke could sense something was wrong and asked, "What is it?"

Clearing her throat, Lorelai pushed down the hostility that was now building up inside of her. She was glad to hear Liz and TJ had sent Jaiden another letter and Kirk had even sent one that made Jaiden, laugh. But she had also received another package from Emily, and Lorelai was not happy at all about what the woman had sent.

"Grandma said in her letter, this would be a better camera and that I will be able to see the pictures I take right away," Lorelai read. "But when Jackie saw it, it only made her hate me more. And, the other girls too. Not Sydney. She was happy for me but I'm not. From then, until bedtime, they gave me mean looks, and Jackie shoved me on the way to the cabin. She even took my clothes while I was taking a shower. I had to hide in there until Mal came looking for me and went to grab me something from my suitcase." Forcibly dropping the letter, Lorelai was now seeing red.

Hearing the paper rattle as she dropped it, Luke knew his wife was pissed. "Now, babe, let's…" But he was cut off.

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Kids can be mean when it comes to stuff like this," he tried to say. Not that it was right, but still.

"Not the kid, Luke. I mean my mother. I told her at dinner on Friday I had gotten Jaiden a perfectly good camera to take to camp. But, of course, my mother does not listen." Lorelai was trying hard to steady her heart rate as it was now racing.

"But should this really be a surprise?" Luke pointed out. "I mean, I was surprised by the first care package being so simple. This sounds more like her."

"I know this shouldn't be a surprise," she told him. "I was just hoping she wouldn't do something like this for a change. But, of course, she's still the same Emily Gilmore. God!"

"Calm down," Luke tried to insist.

"No, I will not calm down!" Lorelai spat.

"To be fair, Jackie was already at war with Jaiden. I'm sure just about anything could have made her go as far as take Jaiden's clothes while she was in the shower," said April, now finished with her sandwich, wiping around her mouth with a napkin.

There was a long silence which both Luke and April noticed before the call abruptly ended.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked into the phone, moving it closer to his ear. "Lorelai?"

Nothing.

Closing the phone, Luke dropped it onto the table to rub his fingers in his eyes. He knew exactly what his wife was going to do and would not be able to stop her even if he had been there, in person.

Having barely grabbed her purse on the way out the door, Lorelai drove over the speed limit that Connecticut's laws would allow as she headed straight for Hartford. She tried to focus on the music playing on the radio, but all Lorelai could think about was how, yet again, her mother stuck herself into something she had no business sticking herself into.

Jaiden had a camera. It may not have been Emily-approved, but it was a camera. Not to mention, wouldn't a digital camera be considered an electronic? Something they didn't want the kids to bring with them to camp? Pretty sure Lorelai had mentioned that to her mother, as well. Apparently, Emily didn't see it that way.

It took less time than it normally would before Lorelai pulled into the long driveway of the Gilmore manor. Making no haste, she turned off the car and immediately stormed up to the large, double doors where she repeatedly rang the door. It was about that time her parents would be sitting down to dinner so she knew they would be up.

A maid was the one to answer the door. "Hello?" she asked. Surprisingly, it was the same maid who was there on Friday. "Oh, was Mrs. Gilmore expecting you?"

"No, not technically. But she probably should have. May I come in?" Lorelai asked in the most cheery tone the woman could muster. No reason to take it out another defenseless woman who is probably already yelled at on a constant basis.

"She's in the dining room." The maid let Lorelai come in.

Lorelai thanked her as she stepped inside the foyer and headed straight for the dining room where both of her parents were sitting down, having a nice dinner. For now, that is.

Richard was surprised to see their daughter there. "Lorelai?" he asked, making Emily look up at once.

"Hey, Dad. How are you?" she asked, still keeping her cheery tone. Chances are, her father probably had nothing to do with getting Jaiden, a camera.

"I'm fine, thanks." Richard looked between his wife and daughter. "Were we expecting you?"

"Well, Mom should have, at least." Lorelai smiled from her father to her mother.

"What on earth on you talking about, Lorelai?"

Lorelai just shook her head at her clueless-looking mother.

"What?"

"You just won't learn, will you?" she asked of her.

Emily let out a sigh, rolling her head as she resumed cutting her meat.

"Really, Mom? A digital camera? A _digital camera_."

Taking the bite she just cut, Emily set her knife and fork down to use her napkin. "You came all the way here to get mad at me for buying Jaiden, a decent camera?" she asked as if it sounded absurd.

"You bought a digital camera for an eight-year-old child?" Richard asked. Obviously, he did not know about it as Lorelai figured.

"The gentleman I talked to said it was a good, simple camera for beginners that could be easily figured out and can take good quality photos," she explained just towards Richard.

"But, I thought we both agreed to get her a computer?"

"Yes," Emily nodded. "This is specifically while she's alway at camp so Jaiden could capture all the great moments and not have to wait until she gets home and wonder if the pictures even came out at all. Really amazing what they can come up with, these days."

Lorelai was staring at the floor, listening to her parents talk. "Uh, hello. Still here," she waved a hand, part way up in the air, looking up again.

"Yes, Lorelai, we see you," Emily acknowledged her daughter. "You drove all the way here from Stars Hollow to make sure we see that you're very upset. It's nothing new." With that, she resumed eating.

Lorelai let out an annoyed groan towards the ceiling. She shut her eyes as she touched her temples with her fingertips. "You don't get it!" she blurted out.

"No, I get it just fine. You don't like I got Jaiden something she can enjoy." Emily didn't even bother looking up at her. She just kept eating her dinner.

"Well, she didn't enjoy it, Mom, because Jaiden was bullied for it." Both Emily and Richard looked up in surprise.

Richard was the one to ask, "Bullied, how?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Emily shrugged. "They were jealous of Jaiden. Our granddaughter was the talk of the day, I assume." She smirked but it only pissed Lorelai off even more.

"No, she wasn't. Another kid, who was already picking on her, stole her clothes while she was in the shower. Jaiden couldn't even leave until Mallory had to come looking for her. Not to mention, shoved her to the ground."

Richard shrugged. "That's nothing. When I was a kid, the boys would tie each other's underwear to the flagpole for the whole camp to see."

"This isn't a competition, Dad." Lorelai continuously switched between her parents. "These are kids who normally don't receive expensive gifts. They get "adopted" for Christmas and receive clothes and maybe one toy you get in the clearance section. Kids who even get forgotten on their birthdays because caseworkers are so busy they don't take the time to ask, much less check. To look over and see another kid open an expensive-looking camera, can hurt more than you think. I brought her a camera, she didn't need you to buy her one. I told you, that."

"Yes, one that looks like a toy," Emily rolled her eyes into her drink she just picked up.

"Uh, last I checked, Jaiden is a kid, and kids do enjoy toys, Mom," Lorelai pointed out, half in sarcasm.

"But, having a real, actual camera can teach Jaiden some responsibility of taking care of something valuable."

"That's not the point." Lorelai straight at her mother. "You gave up any chance of Jaiden making friends with her peers."

"Not everyone is gonna like you, Lorelai," said Richard. "There will always be friends and there will be those who oppose you, and Jaiden has to learn that."

Lorelai just stared at her father with her eyes wide. "So, you're fine with that fact your soon to be granddaughter is being harassed and bullied?" she questioned.

"No, Lorelai, I am not," he told her, calmly. "It's upsetting to hear Jaiden is being bullied after what she already had to put up with. But, it sounds to me, the bullying was already going on before she received the camera and something similar might've happened, regardless. You can't control what others do and Jaiden shouldn't have to miss out on something just because someone else is jealous she has it. Now, I understand these kids probably never had a loving gift such as a digital camera and my heart goes out for those kids and will keep that in mind this holiday season, but if your mother wants to do something nice for, as you said, our soon to be granddaughter, I don't think it would hurt for you to allow that."

"She had, _has_ a perfectly good camera. I used a disposable camera throughout Rory's early childhood. It was just fine," Lorelai continued to press on about.

"So, because you chose to use a cheap camera, Jaiden has to use one, as well?" Emily questioned.

Lorelai dropped her face into her hands in frustration. "Jaiden's caseworker told us, the kids can not have any electronics while at camp. They asked _specifically_ for a disposable camera if a kid chooses to bring one."

"You didn't mention anything like that," she replied.

"Well, I figured it was implied but I guess not." Lorelai threw up her hands as she rolled her head up towards the ceiling. Okay, so she hadn't mentioned there wouldn't be electronics allowed. Lorelai could admit the slip, even if it was reluctantly.

"Well then, I apologize if I had gotten Jaiden into trouble," Emily surprisingly apologized, causing Lorelai to raise her eyebrows, "but I will not apologize for wanting the best for my soon to be granddaughter. She certainly deserves it."

Lorelai looked away. She couldn't disagree there but still.

"Judging by your reaction to camera, is it safe to assume a computer would also be out of the question, as well?" Richard asked.

Staring up at the ceiling with just her eyes, Lorelai asked, "What is it for?"

"We were planning to give it as a gift when the adoption was finalized. There is an excellent computer program for artists that I thought Jaiden would enjoy that my secretary found for me," he explained. Lorelai couldn't help hear a sense of proudness when Richard said artists and how much he thought Jaiden would enjoy it.

"You mean Paint?"

"What's Paint?" he asked, clueless.

"The program that comes with every computer that everyone has probably goofed off in, in school." Not even Lorelai could resist a light-hearted joke such as that.

"I don't know. My secretary says it's favored in the art community and has really excellent reviews."

"Or, would you rather Jaiden just stick to the old fashioned paper and pencil?" Emily asked in sarcasm.

Lorelai just shook her head. "You don't have to get her a computer. Rory lets her use her old one in her room."

"Well, now Jaiden can have her own in the comfort of her own room," Richard shrugged his hands that were on the table.

"She doesn't have her own room, Dad. Jaiden shares with April since April is gone for most of the year." Her parents gave her an expression as if Lorelai admitted to letting Jaiden play with matches.

It was Emily who spoke first. "You have both girls sleeping in the same room instead of giving them their own space?"

"It's not like they share the same bed, Mom," she shrugged. "In fact, it's quite normal for sisters to share a room and both of them are okay with that. Jaiden even prefers it at the moment." Thankfully, neither one said anything more. Though, Richard did share a look with Emily. "So, from now on, can you run it by Luke and I before you go getting Jaiden anything expensive?" Lorelai looked between them. "Please?"

Emily started cutting into what was left of her meat for what looked like the last time. "Fine," she answered before taking the bite and chewed. "We will make sure to have any gifts we give be approved by Lorelai."

Lorelai forced out a "Thank you." She then turned back to her father to give the okay if they wanted to get Jaiden a computer for her adoption day they could before telling them to enjoy the rest of their dinner, stating she would see herself out as she headed for the front door.

Hopefully, the rest of Jaiden's time at camp was going better.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **This is actually just a note for any gamers who might be reading. I am going to be trying out streaming over on Twitch soon and wanted to get the word out in case anyone wanted to come watch. I'm gonna start with a Gilmore Girls themed playthrough of Pokemon Fire Red. My audio is limited to a laptop microphone but I've been researching as much as I can to give the best commentary and work with what I got. I don't know when I will start but if you wanted to check out my channel, my username is the same: SLPikachu.**

 **Thanks always for reading!**


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Being hung up on left Luke concerned and worried on many levels. Of course he knew Lorelai's parents made her do rash things like that and she was going to do what she was going to do and there was no stopping her.

Yes, he can agree, buying a kid, a camera seemed a little over the top, to him, and buying her, one when Jaiden already had a camera was pointless in his book. But, that seems to be his mother-in-law's personality. Why get so worked up over this when they could have been talking about this, instead? Wasn't this what he and Lorelai were supposed to be working on?

Not only that but their top concern should be Jaiden, not confronting her mother. In fact, Luke couldn't help wonder how his little tiger was doing right now. That whole ordeal happened Monday night. What happened Tuesday and today?

April tried asking if he was okay, sensing it wasn't.

Luke rubbed at his eyes as he leaned on his elbow. "Yeah." He happened to catch a glimpse over at the teenaged girl, who gave him a _you're lying_ look. Luke let out a tired sigh.

"You're worried about Jaiden?"

He didn't answer right away. "Yeah," he finally admitted while staring at the center of the small table.

April picked at the rim of her cup as she looked at it. "Me too," she also admitted, looking up at him again.

A small smile suddenly appeared at his oldest's confession.

Silence followed as the two sat there for a moment.

Afterwards, April asked, "Can you call the camp? Or Celia?"

By this point, Luke was holding his arms, folded, on the table. He looked over when she had spoken. "She gave us a phone number in case of emergencies."

"Do you think wanting to check in on Jaiden would be considered an emergency? I mean, they can't keep you from contacting her, can they?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know. I think that's what mailing letters are for. Celia and the counselors are the ones in charge of Jaiden, right now."

"Well, yeah, but we're the ones she lives with and probably know more about her than they do," April pointed out. "If it weren't for you and Lorelai, Jaiden would still be seeing that awful man."

"As true as that is, Celia is still her legal guardian."

"How is she considered her legal guardian when Jaiden lives with us?"

Luke just shrugged, including his left hand, as well.

Reaching over, April grabbed the phone where her dad had dropped it and handed it back to him. "Just make the call. For my sanity's sake, please." She also gave him a knowing look that Luke also wanted to so badly.

Grinning, Luke took it and opened the phone again. He then went into his contacts until he found the number Celia had given him and Lorelai, each. Pressing send, Luke then put it to his ear. It rang a few times before going to an answering machine which Luke just hung up without leaving a message.

"I got a machine," he explained. "I'll try again first thing in the morning." Luke set the phone to the side and grabbed the deck of cards laying there. "How about a few games before bed?"

"Bring it," April challenged with a smirk which Luke began shuffling before dealing out the cards.

The next morning, Luke was of course good on his word and called again. He didn't even wait until after breakfast. He just really wanted to know how his little tiger was doing. This time, someone answered on the third ring.

"Pinetop Acres. This is Mark." It sounded like the guy they met at the drop-off, who was standing with Celia.

"Uh, hi," he greeted. "This is Luke Danes. I think we met on Saturday."

"I met a lot of people on Saturday. Can you refresh my memory?" Mark asked.

"Uh, my foster daughter is Jaiden Reese, if that helps," he shrugged.

"I do know who Jaiden is, yes. Sweet kid. Quiet but that's okay. There has been some issues so far, this week, though, but it's not just on her end."

Luke looked over at April with some concern. "Issues?"

"Yes, between her and another kid in her cabin. It got out of control, yesterday and Jaiden ended up having to sit out on last night's stargazing activity."

Luke's anxiety levels were skyrocketing through the roof now. "What happened?" he asked anxiously.

"I don't fully know the whole story because Jaiden wouldn't tell us, not even to her cabin leader. From what the other girls were saying, the kid got into her face and Jaiden suddenly went off on her. Even gave the kid, a black eye," Mark explained.

"What about the other kid? Why didn't she have to sit out on the activity?" Luke couldn't help ask. It may have even sounded like a demand.

"As far as we know, she had just gotten in Jaiden's face. Jaiden was wailing on the kid by the time we got there."

"But, the kid has been bullying Jaiden all week," he told the guy.

"I know she has, and the kid has also been disciplined on a few occasions. We don't tolerate bullying here, at all, but we also can't tolerate hurting others, regardless of the reason, and this hasn't been Jaiden's first offence. It happened every year since she's been coming to camp."

"You mean with the same kid?"

"No, just lashing out in general to whoever got close," Mark replied. "We don't like making her sit out, but she won't speak up for herself and we're not mindreaders. I know that can be hard for some and we try to give her plenty of time to speak when she's ready. But, we gotta treat everyone the same. I'm sorry. Really." There was some real, honest sympathy in the man's voice and as much as Luke wanted to chew him out, he knew Mark was right.

Letting out a sigh, Luke rubbed a hand on the back of his head. "Can I speak with her, at least?"

"Of course," he said.

Luke thanked him.

"No problem." He then heard Mark get on what sounded like a radio and faintly heard him speak into it. "Mallory?"

There was a short pause before Luke heard even more faintly Mallory's voice. "Yeah?"

"Can you send Jaiden Reece up here to the office?"

"Sure," she replied. "We're actually about to head to breakfast in a bit."

He thanked her. "We'll try not to hold her that long so she'll be able to eat breakfast."

"Okay."

Mark then came back on the phone. "Mister Danes?"

"Yeah, still here," Luke told him.

"It's just about time for breakfast so she won't be able to talk long. Is that okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's fine. I just want to see how she's doing and make sure she's okay."

"Well, she's on her way up. It'll be a few minutes."

Luke nodded. "Okay."

While Luke was on the phone, April had been fixing breakfast, for a change. She brought both plates over where Luke was sitting in his same seat as the night before. While he continued to wait, Luke started eating.

It took about five minutes until Jaiden could get there. In that time, he heard faint voices in the background, talking. One of them he recognized as Celia's, who had entered what sounded like a cabin. Each step creaked as if the floor was made completely out of wood planks. Luke guessed they had the door open with a screen door that slammed shut on its own every time someone entered or exited the building.

At one point, Celia must have noticed the phone off the hook because Luke heard her ask, "Why is the phone laying on the table like that?"

About that time, the screen door opened, only this time, it was opened a little more carefully where the squeaking sound it made was softer and didn't slam shut. Luke would bet the diner he knew who had entered this time.

"Hey, Jaiden," he heard Celia say. "Need something?"

It was Mark who spoke up for her when Jaiden hadn't. "She has a phone call. Come here, sweetheart." There was a pause which Luke heard the phone be picked up. "Mister Danes?" he said into the phone.

"Still here," Luke told him.

"Okay. Here she is."

"Thanks," he said before Mark passed the phone. When Luke thought Jaiden had the phone, he greeted cheerfully, "hey, Tiger."

There was a hesitation before Jaiden finally spoke. "Daddy?"

"Yep, it me." He chuckled to help lighten the mood.

"And, April!" April called out for her foster sister to hear.

"Hold up a sec, Tiger and I'll put ya on speaker phone so April can hear." Luke took the phone away from his ear and pressed the speaker button on the keypad. "Can you hear me, Tiger?"

"Yeah," she replied, timidly.

"Hey, sis," April told her.

"Hi."

The teen smiled in response. "You still liking camp?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome," she said. "We just got your letter from Monday, last night. That was cool you shot the targets."

"It was only the outside part," Jaiden said.

"It's still good. I probably would have shot over the target." April also snickered to help lighten the mood.

"I did at first."

"But you kept trying, though, right?" Luke encouraged the kid.

"Yeah."

"See? That's what matters. Practice makes perfect, and even then. Those who even perfected their craft still make mistakes. Even I still burn food from time to time, or accidently dump extra ingredients into the batter."

"Can I take lessons after camp?" she asked.

"Uh, we would have to look into if they give lessons in archery outside of summer camp, but sure. I don't see why not," he shrugged. "Whatever gets ya out of the house and not sitting in front of a TV all the time, is okay in my book." Luke chuckled again.

"I don't like watching TV all the time," Jaiden said in a serious tone.

April couldn't help smirk. "Jaiden, honey, are you sure you're not Dad's long lost daughter, biologically?" She snickered. There was a pause in which she added, "that was a joke, by the way. I just meant you're just like him."

"Oh."

Luke smiled at the sisters' interaction.

"So, it sounds like there's some kids I need to strike some fear into," April moved the conversation forward.

"April," Luke warned.

She shrugged. "What? I'm just saying."

Luke turned back to the quiet kid. Glancing off to the side at nothing in particular, he told her, "That's the reason we're calling, Tiger. Your foster grandmother sent ya a camera, we hear."

"Mal offered to keep it in her suitcase until the end of camp," said Jaiden.

"So, you're not even using it?" April asked.

"I'm not supposed to have it." Luke and April exchanged looks between each other.

"Are you at least using the one Lorelai got you?"

"Yeah. Me and Sydney took a lot, and I took a lot of pictures of the dogs and whatever I sawed. I think I have four pictures left to take."

Luke smiled again. "Make'em count," he teased.

"I will."

"So, Monday wasn't that great. Anything else happened since then? Has Jackie messed with you yesterday or Tuesday?" Luke wanted to see if Jaiden would confess on her own and not just bring it up and intimidate her.

More silence followed.

"It's okay, Tiger," he reassured the little girl. "You can tell us anything." When even more silence followed, Luke started singing for her.

"I squeeze my tiger every night when I go to sleep," she said when Luke finished.

"Yeah?" It was relief to hear Jackie or any of the other girls hasn't discouraged her from listening to the stuffed tiger he recorded their song on.

"Uh huh. And, um…" Luke had to encourage her to continue. "Instead of my shirt, I...I wear yours to bed and...I wrap...m-me in Mommy's scarf. Then I cover me under my blanket and hug Stanley and my tiger, and listen to you."

"That actually sounds adorable," April admitted in amazement. Both of her eyebrows were raised. And it was.

"Hey, whatever helps. Right, Tiger?" Luke told Jaiden. Okay, so maybe one of Lorelai's crazy ideas did end up working, after all. Who knew?

"R-right," she answered, timidly. There was another short pause before Jaiden told him, "Sorry, Daddy."

The sudden apology caught him off guard and confused him. "Sorry for what, Tiger?"

Another pause.

"What happened, sweetie?"

"I-I-I…" He could hear her start to breathe faster like she was going to burst into tears.

"Take deep breaths. In and out," Luke coached her which Jaiden did, breathing in and then out. "Atta girl, Tiger."

"I just got really mad and Jackie…" She took another breath. "Jackie kept...kept…"

"Kept, what?" he asked, encouragely.

"Being mean."

"I'm sorry to hear that, sweetie," Luke told her, in sympathy. It really did break his heart his little tiger was being bullied.

Jaiden's voice cracked. "I didn't want to hurt Jackie, Daddy. But she was making me mad and got real close to me and she hit my hat off. T-the...next thing I knew, Ste...phen was holding me, tr-trying t-to calm me down like you, but not the singing part. I didn't mean to hit him, either. He forgave me, though. But Jackie didn't."

"You went into a blind rage, huh?" April figured.

She sniffed in. "What does that mean?"

"You know how you go into a tunnel, you can't see anything?"

"Yeah," Jaiden replied.

"Well, when you get really angry, you get what's called, tunnel vision. Your hearing becomes muffled like when you cover them with your hands, and your heart beats faster, and it feels like you can't breathe," April explained in terms Jaiden would be able to understand.

"Yeah!" Jaiden replied as if April just read her mind.

"That's what blind rage is. You get so angry, you can't listen to anyone and you have to lash out because of it."

"I don't want to have blind rage," Jaiden told her foster sister, pitifully.

"We know, Tiger," Luke assured her, "and we'll work on helping make sure that doesn't happen, I promise. Okay?"

"Me too," said April. "I mean, with helping you."

"Okay. How is your trip?"

Luke and April couldn't help share a smile with each other when the kid wanted to know how their trip was going, as well.

"It's going great. I talked Dad into getting a pedicure," April said.

"What's that?"

"It's where people massage your feet and clean them up before painting your toenails, if you want them paint," she explained.

"Which I did not," Luke made sure to mention.

"Maybe you and I can go get one done, some time. Rory can even come with us, the next time she visits. Some sister time, just the three of us."

"No, thank you," Jaiden blurted out without thought, but in a polite manner.

"Come on. If Dad can get at least one, you can," April tried to insist.

"I don't like my feet touched."

"But they would feel great afterwards."

There was another moment of silence.

It was Luke who assured her, "It's okay, Tiger. You don't have to if you don't want to. Pedicures aren't for everybody. I didn't really care for it, myself."

"Maybe when you're older, you might like to try it," April also assured her, backing off.

At that point, they heard Mark tell Jaiden, he was headed down to the mess hall for breakfast.

"I have to go," she told her foster dad and foster sister.

"Okay. We have to finish our breakfast, anyway," said April. "Hang in there, sis. You have one more day and then you can come home."

"Even though I got in trouble and Jackie is mean, it's still been the best time I ever had at camp," Jaiden confessed.

April perked up. "Yeah?"

"Uh huh."

"You have to tell us all about it when we're home, next week," Luke told her, glad the kid was still having a good time despite Jackie.

"Okay."

Luke snickered softly. "Love ya, Tiger."

"I love you too, Daddy," she told him.

"Love you too, sis!" April also told her.

"I love you too, sis," Jaiden replied.

Once the three of them said their good-byes, Luke reluctantly hung up the phone, closing it before dropping it on the table, softly than he did the night before.

"Feel better?" he heard April ask.

Luke smirked at the table in front of him. He lifted his head to respond. "Yeah. You?"

"Psh! I wasn't worried."

One eyebrow rose at her.

"Okay," she admitted. "Maybe a little. At least she's having a good time, though."

"How about I warm up the food?" Luke suggested, standing up and took their plates over to warm them up in the microwave, one at a time. During the hold time, neither one had the appetite to eat much. Now that they were able to hear from Jaiden, their stomachs were protesting.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **So, about last chapter's author's note, after researching and creating my channel for a week, I did a test run and realized my internet speed is just below the recommended speed for Twitch so unfortunately I will not be streaming any time soon. But, I do still plan on it in the future as I really would like to try it. If you're still interested, I will let you know when that time comes. In the meantime, you should check out Stephen's Twitch: (StephenGeorg)! He does breakfast streams, Tuesday and Thursday morning, and occasionally game streams on the weekends.**


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Suddenly, out of a sound sleep, Lorelai shot straight up in bed. Her blue eyes were the widest possible. She had completely forgotten about Luke and April and hanging up on them.

Flipping onto her side, Lorelai reached behind her for the phone sitting on her nightstand, falling off onto the floor, in the process. She then quickly dialed Luke's cell, muttering, "pick up, pick up, pick up," over and over again to herself.

Luke and April had eventually finished breakfast and Luke was finishing up the dishes when he heard his phone ring from where he had left it on the table. Shaking the water from his hands before drying them on a dish towel, Luke then went over to see who was calling him. Though, he had a pretty good idea who it might be. Sure enough, when he picked the phone up and looked at the caller ID, there was his wife's name.

Opening it up, Luke answered and put the phone to his ear. "I was wondering when you would call back," he slightly teased her. A corner of his mouth was up in a half smirk.

Lorelai started apologizing profusely. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Luke cut in, stopping her. "It's alright, really."

"You're not upset?"

He shrugged. "Why should I be upset for? I mean, Jaiden should have been top priority but I guess that's just me." Luke tried to play it off like it wasn't a big deal to him. In reality, though, it was and it did show in his tone.

Lorelai stared at nothing, slightly confused by her husband's statement. "Jaiden was my top priority. That's why I went over there and told my parents they can't pull something like this."

He scoffed.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said.

"No, spit it out. What, you don't think Jaiden wasn't my priority?"

Luke stepped out onto the small deck of the boat, closing the door behind him so they could talk in private. "Look, I get your parents makes you crazy and Jaiden didn't really need a camera, but the way I see it, you just went over there because that's just it. They did something you didn't like and that tipped you off. You didn't even stop to think how Jaiden was feeling after that happened."

"She was upset, Luke. Didn't you hear what I read?" Lorelai asked.

"Yes, I heard. But in my mind, my first thought was, how was Jaiden doing now, whereas your first thought was, I'm mad and I need to go yell at my parents."

"Yes, Luke. It was because of them Jaiden had her stuff taken and bullied even more. I bought her a camera, my mother did not need to. But because it's Emily Gilmore, she has to have better."

"What's wrong with that?"

Lorelai's mouth dropped open when she heard what Luke had asked. "I'm sorry?" she asked in response.

"I mean, an eight-year-old doesn't need an expensive camera, but isn't that what grandparents do? Spoil the grandchildren?"

"So, you're okay with this?"

"No, but your mother's gonna do what she's gonna do and I'm not gonna waste my time, stressing over something that was out of my control and out of Jaiden's control. All I'm gonna worry about is, how's my little tiger cub doing now? So, April and I called the camp this morning and had a chat with the camp director and Jaiden, herself."

Lorelai calmed down when she heard he had talked to Jaiden, personally. "You did?"

"Yep."

"How is she?"

"She got into a fight with Jackie yesterday when the kid overstepped her boundaries and Jaiden relapsed like she used to. She ended up having to miss last night's stargazing activity. Took a moment for her to tell me but I managed to help ease her nerves by singing to her and she told me what happened."

"I knew it!" Lorelai hit the top of the bed with her fist she was holding on there. "Having that camera made things way worse for her."

"The camera has been stashed away in Mallory's suitcase since Monday," Luke told her. "Though, I'm sure this probably would have happened even if your mom hadn't of sent the camera because it sounded like Jackie would have found any excuse to bully Jaiden."

"That's not the point, Luke," Lorelai tried to argue. "My mother always…"

Luke cut her off again. "Wants to control everything," he finished for her. "Yes, I know. But _my point is_ that all I care about is _we_ should have been discussing this first. Not going to your parents. You remember that communication thing we were working on?"

Lorelai let out a sigh under her breath with her eyes closed as she rubbed her forehead. She then rested her forehead against the backs of her fingers. "I can agree, hanging up on you wasn't the best idea and I'm sorry for that. We should have been discussing this first."

"And Jaiden's okay, now," Luke added. "She said, she's still having a great time despite Jackie. She even said, it was the best time she's ever had."

Lorelai smiled at that. "She did?"

"Yep."

"Good, I'm glad."

"And who knows, maybe having this camera might be a good thing," Luke said, trying to sound positive. "I still remember a thing or two Rachel used to share with me whenever she used to talk about photography. Maybe that could be enough to get Jaiden started and she could learn the rest on her own."

"Maybe," Lorelai agreed.

"Hey, maybe it could be a hobby the two of you could pick up, together," he suggested when the idea suddenly popped into his head. Lorelai did enjoy taking pictures with her own camera, now and then.

"Oh, great. Jaiden and I can have a bonding experience that was started because of my mother," Lorelai said with sarcasm, shrugging her hand that was still on the bed, up.

"Lorelai," Luke warned.

"I was just kidding," she assured him. "But, yeah, maybe that could be something for the two of us." After all, Lorelai had been trying to think of ways for her and Jaiden to bond over, together, that could be their activity, like shopping and movies were hers and Rory's favorite past time.

"If you want, I can tell you what I know and you could pass it on to Jaiden so it would seem like I had no part in this, to her."

Lorelai smiled at the thought of Luke letting her take all the credit so it could turn into an activity for just the two of them. "That could be a good idea."

"Just next time, don't shut me out. Don't do what I had done when I found out about April, no matter much smaller it seems."

She couldn't help remember the hurt she had gone through and didn't realize she might've done the same thing when Lorelai hung up on him instead of talking to Luke, first.

"I'm sorry," she said, sounding more sincere this time.

"It's okay," he forgave her. "I should probably go. We have plans to visit some museum in this small town we're docked in."

"Okay."

"So, are we good now?"

"I think so. Yeah," she assured him.

"Alright. Love ya, crazy lady."

"Love ya, mountain man," she teased right back. Lorelai perked up. "Hey, before we hang up, let's make out through the phone like those crazy in love teenagers you see on TV."

"How about not and definitely not say we did."

"Come on!" she tried to insist.

"How about a quick, good-bye kiss like normal people?" Luke suggested instead.

Lorelai pouted. "You're no fun."

Luke just rolled his eyes. He did return the kiss noise when she did it first, although, he made sure no one was around to witness it. After another set of _I love you_ s, they both ended the call.

They read their last letter from Jaiden before she comes home, later that evening. Tuesday was fishing in the morning and arts&crafts in the afternoon, while the evening activity was movie night where the kids watched the summer movie, _Sandlot_. Jaiden had pointed out specifically how she thought Luke would like it because it was a baseball movie. She had also noted about Mallory keeping the camera safe for her until the end of the week.

Lorelai could hardly sleep that night, knowing Jaiden would finally be coming home the next day, tossing and turning pretty much the whole night. The house had been quiet ever since Rory had to go back to New York. It would probably still be quiet even with the kid home, but at least there would be another person there.

The next morning, Lorelai stopped by the inn, to check in, on her way to Hartford where they had dropped Jaiden off, last weekend. Everyone could see how much of a good mood the woman was in. Michel showed his annoyance by it, but Lorelai couldn't help the guy hide a slight smile, happy for her after all. Of course, it was Sookie who said something out loud, glad her best friend was happy. Sookie had also been so relieved Jaiden was able to enjoy the muffins she had sent for the kid. That had surely kept the woman up at night, for sure.

Lorelai ended up only staying for a couple hours before having to leave again, heading straight there. When she pulled in, there was already a crowd of people waiting, recognizing a lot of them as other foster caregivers who had dropped off their foster children. In fact, Lorelai ended up striking up a conversation with one of them. Before long, she learned the foster mom was actually Jaiden's new friend, Sydney's foster mom. What were the odds of that happening? The foster mom was also surprised to find out she had been talking to her foster daughter's new friend's foster mom, as well.

"Hey, maybe we can set up a playdate for the girls," Lorelai suggested.

"That would be fun. It would have to be before our move, but yeah, we can work something out."

"Move?"

"My husband got a new job that's in Georgia, so as soon as the adoption's finalized, we're gonna be packing up our house and moving down there in the next couple of weeks," she explained.

"Oh, well, congratulations." Lorelai was a little bummed the family had to move as it sounded like Jaiden and Sydney had really hit things off, already. In fact, Jaiden had also mentioned in Tuesday's letter, that the two had bonded over the comics TJ had been giving her, and even introduced Jaiden more to the Marvel universe.

Sydney's foster mom thanked her and gave Lorelai, her cell number so they could squeeze in a playdate sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Eventually, the buses finally pulled into the parking lot and parked in the same spots as they did before, by the curb.

Lorelai watched in anticipation as she kept her eye out for a kid wearing a cowgirl hat. A few times she rose up on her toes, looking like a kid waiting their turn for a waterslide. When the kid came into view, stepping down from the bus steps, wearing her hat and holding her stuffed animals, a big grin spread across Lorelai's face.

Jaiden looked around when she had taken a few steps from the bus.

Cupping her hands around her mouth, Lorelai called to her. "Jaiden!"

The kid looked in her foster mom's direction which Lorelai waved at her. At that, Jaiden sprinted right towards her where Lorelai scooped the kid right up.

Jaiden immediately wrapped her arms around Lorelai's neck, pressing Stanley and the tiger against her back as Lorelai held her own arms around the kid, intertwining her arm underneath the kid's backpack while her other arm held her up.

"I've missed you so much," Lorelai was the first to say something.

"I've missed you too, Mommy." Jaiden held her cheek on Lorelai's shoulder.

They waited for the crowd to thin out a little, letting the other kids grab their suitcases first before going up to grab Jaiden's. Before finally setting Jaiden down on her feet, it was then Lorelai noticed aside from her backpack, she also had a blue and black duffel bag slung over her head that Lorelai did not remember Jaiden leaving with.

"Where did that bag come from, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked as she set her down.

"This time, they had a birthday party for everybody even if it wasn't their birthday. The girls got a ladybug party and the boys got a race car party," Jaiden explained quietly for only Lorelai to hear, making Lorelai have to kneel to her level.

Lorelai noticed the duffel bag was race car themed instead of ladybug themed. "How'd you managed to get a race car bag?"

"Mal sawed I was sad because all they gave us was a doll and hair stuff, and other girl stuff, and said she would ask if there was any boy bags left that I could trade for. If they didn't, I was gonna give everything to Doula."

"Aw," she tilted her head, "you would have let Doula have all of your birthday gifts?"

Jaiden nodded. "Can I show you the cool race car I got instead?"

"Sure," Lorelai smiled excitedly.

Opening her duffel bag, Jaiden dug out a blue and yellow remote controlled car to show it off to her.

"Wow, that looks really cool, Jaidster," Lorelai told her.

Jaiden stared at her foster mom in confusion, her eyebrows almost touching. "Jaidster?" she asked.

"A race car driver's gotta have a cool race name, right?" Lorelai nudged at the kid with her elbow.

Jaiden smiled at that. "Yeah," she nodded in agreement.

Lorelai wrapped an arm around the kid's waist and gave her cheek, a kiss.

Jaiden wanted to drive it around to show her, but Lorelai told her to wait until they got home since there were too many people around.

Once most of the kids had gotten their stuff, Lorelai and Jaiden went over to grab Jaiden's. It was Tyler who handed over her suitcase, setting it rightside up and pulled out the handle for them.

"High five?" he asked Jaiden, holding his hand out.

This time, Jaiden did not hesitate to high five the guy right back.

"Alright," he praised.

To Lorelai's surprise, the next thing Jaiden did was move towards him and gave Tyler a hug, good-bye, holding her arms around his legs.

Tyler bent over, wrapping an arm around her head and held the other hand to her back. "It was awesome getting to know you this week, Jaiden," he told her. When she stepped back to look up at him, Tyler added, "don't forget what I told ya. Alright?"

Jaiden nodded, smiling up at him.

He reached out and playfully hit the front of her hat, knocking it down a bit over her eyes. "Take care." Tyler waved at both girls before they turned to leave.

Before making it to the jeep, Lorelai ended up visiting with Celia for a little while. Celia filled her in on how camp went for Jaiden, at least from her point of view. A lot of the volunteers had to stay back at the campgrounds to start cleaning up for the teenagers who were supposed to be having their week, next, including Stephen and Mallory.

The best part, though, was when Celia had commented on the complete one-eighty Jaiden had this year from the previous years she had come to camp.

"Most of the time, I barely recognized her. I had to keep asking myself if this was the same kid or not." Celia chuckled towards Jaiden, playfully.

"So I've heard," Lorelai agreed, holding onto the suitcase handle.

Jaiden looked away at the ground to hide underneath her hat from the attention she was getting.

Celia turned back to Lorelai, her arms folded. "You know, since that CFT meeting you agreed to take in Jaiden sooner, I knew you and Luke would be the one. I don't know," she shook her head, repeatedly, "just something told me so. You are not like other foster caregivers, that's for sure."

"As much as I would like to take credit, most of it actually goes to Luke, honestly. He's amazing with her," Lorelai admitted.

"Well, regardless of where the credit goes, thank you. Really, it's hard whenever I see the kiddos like Jaiden so closed in, it seems impossible getting through to them," Celia said. "I wish there were more like you and Luke out there."

Lorelai looked around at some of the volunteers that had come back with the kids. "All these volunteers don't seem so bad," she harmlessly teased.

Celia did the same. "Oh, yeah, I am so thankful for these volunteers." She looked back at Lorelai. "You know, they also help out throughout the year. They throw the kids a thanksgiving dinner the Sunday before, and a Christmas party a few weeks later."

"Yeah, about that. Just a head's up, but I think my parents are gonna be spoiling these kids this Christmas," Lorelai pointed out, remembering what her father had mentioned the other night.

"Hey, I'm all for that, and I'm sure the kids would be super happy to be spoiled, as well," she said with a shrug. Both women snickered at that.

Since they had to get back to the campgrounds, Celia said good-bye to Lorelai and Jaiden before parting company.

Lorelai led Jaiden over to where she had parked, where Lorelai and Jaiden helped each other slide the suitcase over to the other side, on the floor before letting Jaiden climb into the back seat. She then put her seat up to slide in under the steering wheel.

Once they were on the road, heading back to Stars Hollow, Lorelai asked, "Have you eaten yet, sweetie?"

"Yeah, they made us a sack lunch for the bus ride, home," she replied.

"So, you're not hungry, then?"

Jaiden shook her head. "I'm thirsty, though."

"Well, I gotta stop for gas on the way home. Maybe we can get something to drink while we're there. How does that sound?"

"Okay."

"Actually, I haven't eaten lunch yet, so do you mind if I stop somewhere? I can at least get ya a milkshake or something?"

"No, thank you," Jaiden said, politely. "I don't like milkshakes. They're hard to drink."

"It doesn't have to be a milkshake. Do you like apple pie?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

"I can get ya an apple pie, if you want." Lorelai would rather Jaiden eat something while she ate her lunch instead of having to eat in front of the kid. It just felt weird eating in front of someone even if the person was okay with it.

Thankfully, Jaiden agreed to at least getting an apple pie.

On the way home, Lorelai let Jaiden listen to her radio station which Jaiden immediately started singing along to Lonestar's _I'm Already There_ song when it came on after the DJ finished talking. It was nice having the kid in the back seat again, singing her little heart out. Though, she had to admit, the song did remind Lorelai of how much she missed Luke, and Rory, too. At least she had one of her favorites, home and all to herself, to hopefully finally do some mother and daughter bonding.


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53

As soon as the girls got home, Paul Anka was already sitting inside the door to greet them, his tail wagging like crazy. He was even more excited to see his human pup was home. Jaiden dropped onto her legs and wrapped her arms around the dog, who licked her face in return, his tail still going.

Lorelai let the two have all the time they needed and headed into the kitchen. She left Jaiden's suitcase in the foyer and set her purse on the small table in there on her way, just bringing the food. Setting the bag on the kitchen table, Lorelai began taking everything out.

Jaiden came in shortly after and immediately headed over to the kitchen sink, grabbing the small step stool from the cupboard underneath that Luke had built for her so she would be able to reach both the faucet and soap, better.

After washing her hands and face, and drying them off on a hand towel, Jaiden put her step stool away and came over to the table. Just as she folded her leg on the chair nearest where Lorelai was standing, she suddenly bolted back to the foyer, returning shortly with Stanley and her tiger in her arms.

Lorelai had already unwrapped her apple pie. "It's still a little warm so be careful."

"Thank you," Jaiden said politely.

"You're welcome, sweetheart." Lorelai sat down in her seat and unwrapped her cheeseburger. "You're also welcome to some fries if you want any."

"No, thank you. Can I get a fork?"

"Of course. You don't have to ask for something like that, sweetie. The kitchen is open to everybody."

Jaiden slid off her chair and headed around, behind Lorelai's chair to get a fork from the silverware drawer, bringing it back.

"So, over all, camp was a lot of fun this year?"

Jaiden poked her fork into the end of her apple pie and tried to pull a piece off with it. She stopped long enough to nod her head up toward her foster mom before returning to her apple pie.

"You know, it's easier using your hands instead of a fork," Lorelai tried to suggest.

"My other mommy says, only nether-thaws use their hands to eat," she replied, stopping again.

Lorelai picked up a French fry, dipping it into the ketchup that was included with her meal. "But you use your hands to eat other foods like when we have pizza."

"But, pie isn't finger food like pizza is. Or a burger," Jaiden looked at the cheeseburger in Lorelai's left hand.

"When it's made like that it is," Lorelai nodded towards the pie.

Jaiden stared at her pie now just poking at it with her fork.

Lorelai sensed she might've upset the kid. "You can eat it however you like, sweetie. I was only trying to suggest a simpler way since you were having trouble cutting it."

After a couple minutes, Jaiden managed to speak again. "Other Mommy would hit my hand if I ate something with my hands I wasn't supposed to."

"Well, the only hitting done in this house is either done with pillows in a fun pillow fight or when we're playing around, and never to intentionally hurt anyone," Lorelai assured her.

She noticed Jaiden was biting her lip. Reaching over, carefully, Lorelai gently rubbed a hand along her back.

At first touch, Jaiden flinched immediately.

Lorelai took back her hand. She reminded herself what Luke had said about still flinching for him, too. So, she decided to not say a word and continued eating her burger. She did change the subject, remembering there were several recorded episodes of Diego on the DVR. "There must have been a _Go Diego, Go_ marathon on while you were gone. There are a ton recorded for ya."

Jaiden was staring at her apple pie again.

"Maybe we can order dinner tonight and watch a bunch of them? What do ya think?"

Still not a word.

Finally, after watching her for a moment, Lorelai stood up. She suddenly froze when she saw Jaiden flinch some more, her small form tightening up. So, being careful as can be, Lorelai headed over to the silverware drawer, grabbing a knife before returning to her seat. Once she scooted in, Lorelai reached over and carefully placed her fingers on the corner of the wrapper the apple pie was laying on, tugging it towards her.

Jaiden didn't stop her, not even when Lorelai reached over to gently take the fork from her, as well. Her form remained fully tensed.

With the knife and fork in each hand, Lorelai straightened the apple pie in front of her so that it was horizontal and began cutting it in half the long way, then she cut it into smaller pieces the other way. Once the apple pie was in bite size pieces, she set the fork down and moved it back over to Jaiden, setting the knife down, on the wrapper beside her cheeseburger and continued eating again.

A few minutes went by as the girls sat in silence. Every few bites, Lorelai would eat another French fry.

Paul Anka was laying on the floor, nearby, sprawled out. His head was upright with his chin to the floor, waiting for a handout.

Lorelai smiled over at the dog and held a fry down to his level to offer it to him. Paul Anka immediately perked his head up and happily took the fry. She smiled some more before turning back to what was left of the rest of her lunch. That's when Jaiden got her attention when she had suddenly spoke again.

"Th-thank you."

Lorelai smiled again. "You're welcome, sweetheart," she told her once again.

She watched as Jaiden slowly picked up her fork and stabbed the first bite, putting it to her mouth. The rest of the time it took to finish lunch was spent in more silence. Afterwards, when Jaiden was finished, she threw away her trash and went over to get her step stool back out to rinse her fork off under the faucet.

"M-Mommy." She turned around just as Lorelai was making a fresh batch of coffee.

Lorelai looked up while scooping coffee grounds into the machine. "Yes, sweetie?"

"I-is...the...dish...washer…"

"Just leave it in the sink for now. I'll take care of it later. Okay?"

Jaiden turned back to drop the fork in the sink before stepping down and returned the step stool underneath. Grabbing her stuffed animals from her chair, she then left the kitchen without another word.

Once Lorelai had poured herself a cup of coffee and took a sip, she set the cup on the counter and headed upstairs to check on the kid. While walking by the hall bathroom, she heard the shower running. That, and Paul Anka laying in front of the closed bathroom door was a tip off where she was.

Lorelai kneeled down to rub the dog's fur. "Keeping an eye out for Jaiden, Paul Anka?" She then headed back downstairs to the foyer.

Kneeling beside where she left the suitcase, she laid it down to unzip the lid, flipping it open. The laundry bag was on top, full. Lorelai pulled open the drawstring, looking inside at what she assumed to be Jaiden's dirty clothes. She was about to stand up to go put them into the washing machine when something caught her eye. Underneath Jaiden's sketchbook Mallory had given her, was a green flat box.

Curiosity got the best of her when Lorelai realized what it could be. She pulled the box out. Sure enough, she was right. The picture on top was of a blue digital camera. The name underneath said it was a Canon PowerShot A1100 IS. So, this was the camera that had caused so much trouble. Not that it was the camera's fault. It didn't ask to be bought. She smiled at that humorous thought she had come up with.

Lorelai turned the box over to read the features the camera came with.

"That's what Grandma sent me." The sudden voice caused Lorelai to jump out of her skin and her heart to skip a beat, almost dropping the camera and quickly looking over at where the kid was standing, dressed in another shirt and a pair of basketball shorts. She also couldn't help notice Jaiden was already wearing her boots again, with her hat still on her head.

"Sweetheart." Lorelai had to take a moment to calm her heart rate and catch her breath.

Jaiden looked at her foster mom with a confused but concerned expression. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, you just scared me, that's all." She smiled for the kid. "I didn't hear you come downstairs."

"Sorry." Jaiden's form tensed up as her gaze dropped to the floor.

Lorelai reached out to touch her side, gently. "Oh, no, sweetheart. I'm not mad. It's okay. We scare each other a lot around here. Don't worry."

Jaiden still didn't look up or even relax.

"I was just grabbing your laundry so I can wash it. I wasn't trying to go through your things," she tried to explain. Setting the camera back inside the suitcase, Lorelai added, "I saw it and just wanted to check it out. Looks pretty neat."

She saw Jaiden's right shoulder shrug, timidly.

"What's wrong? Don't you like it?"

"I don't know," she admitted softly. "I guess so." Her eyes were searching around the floor.

"But, what?" Lorelai rubbed her hand along Jaiden's side, affectionately.

Jaiden seemed to hesitate.

Turning part way around to fully face her, Lorelai placed her other hand on Jaiden's left side to hold onto her.

"Listen, sweetheart, I know the other girls being mean to you wasn't nice, but that doesn't mean it has anything to do with you," she assured Jaiden. "It was a really nice gift my mom sent you. She just thought you'd like to see the pictures you take, sooner than having to wait to have them developed, that's all. It wasn't to make the other kids jealous, I promise."

Jaiden was holding her stuffed animals in her arms against her chest while chewing on her lip.

"You can't control how others react," she continued. "You can only control how you react. Some will be jealous of the things you have, or the things you accomplish. It doesn't mean you should feel bad about it. But, you shouldn't flaunt it either. Feel proud and be happy for the things that come your way, but don't flaunt it in front of others. You understand what I'm saying, sweetheart?"

Jaiden hesitated some more before she asked, "C-can I...ask a qu-question?"

Lorelai smiled, teasingly but in a nice way, "You already have."

Jaiden didn't respond that time but just stared at her foster mom.

She rubbed her left hand along Jaiden's side once more. "I'm only teasing you, sweetheart. Of course you can."

"What does...f-flaunt...mean?"

"It means to do something in order to make people feel jealous, on purpose. Like showing them you're better than they are." Lorelai quickly added, "I'm not saying that's what you were doing. I know you weren't. There are people who do flaunt things because they don't have better things to do with their sad lives."

Lorelai rubbed some more. "Bottom line is, it's okay to like the camera if you really do like it. Okay?"

Her duel blue/green eyes diverted over behind Lorelai towards the suitcase for a long moment.

Finally, Lorelai made to stand up. "Here," she reached over to grab Jaiden's laundry, "let me toss your laundry into the washer. While I'm doing that, why don't you take your camera and meet me in the living room, and I can show ya something. Sound like a plan?"

"Can I help?"

"With, what?"

"My laundry? Daddy showed me how," she said.

"Alright then. Come on, sweetheart." Lorelai let Jaiden follow her out to the back porch where they tossed in all of the kid's dirty laundry from camp. "You remember how much soap you're supposed to use?"

Jaiden stood on her step stool she had also grabbed on the way outside. Reaching inside the detergent, she scooped out how much was needed. "Like that, right?"

"Yep," she smiled. "Toss it in there."

Jaiden slowly poured the powdered detergent inside the washing machine, in a circular motion like Luke does it.

Warning her to watch her fingers, Lorelai closed the lid to the washer and turned each dile, letting Jaiden push the button to start it.

"Alright," she praised, holding up her right hand for a high five. 'Give me five."

Jaiden returned it.

The girls returned inside where Lorelai had Jaiden grab her camera and to meet her in the living room while she headed upstairs again.

Lorelai headed for her room, grabbing her own digital camera from the drawer of her night stand. It was an older camera than Jaiden's was, but it still had a small screen on the back to be able to see the picture being taken. She then headed back downstairs where Jaiden was waiting on the edge of the couch, holding hers on her lap.

"You ever seen these kinds of cameras before?" she asked heading over to the couch, holding hers up enough to show Jaiden.

Jaiden nodded. "Not up close."

Lorelai sat down beside the kid and turned the camera on and went to the pictures she had previously taken to show Jaiden. "Unlike the disposable camera I got you, you can access the pictures whenever you like and you can delete them if you don't like how they came out." She stopped on a picture of Paul Anka that was blurry from him moving. "Like this one. Paul Anka got distracted by something and moved just as I was taking his picture. So, I can delete it. And, voila!" The picture disappeared, moving on to the next picture. "No more picture."

She looked at Jaiden. "Isn't that neat?"

Jaiden shrugged one shoulder, still not sure yet.

"Here," Lorelai held her hand out to take Jaiden's camera which she handed over. She also asked Jaiden if she could go into the kitchen and grab a pair of scissors and batteries for her from the junk drawer, thanking her as the kid headed that way.

When Jaiden returned, she was holding the scissors carefully and walking slowly.

"Why are you walking like that?"

"Because you can't run or walk fast with scissors," she replied. "You can hurt someone."

When the kid was close enough, Lorelai took the scissors first and used one of the blades to swipe through the tape holding the box closed. Jaiden had remained standing, watching over her.

Eventually, Lorelai asked, "Sweetheart, can you sit, please? You're making Mommy nervous standing there."

Jaiden sat on the opposite side of her that time. "Sorry, Mommy," she said, apologetically.

"You're fine. It's not your fault. Having someone hover over me, makes me nervous, that's all."

Lorelai set the scissors on the coffee table and lifted the box's top flap to open it. First thing she pulled out was the instruction manual and began skimming through it to get the basic functions to start them off.

Jaiden sat there patiently, waiting for Lorelai to finish. After a minute, she reached behind her to grab her stuffed animals Jaiden had left over there and started playing with them, having the tiger climb on Stanley like it was playing, stopping on his head and had them look at each other.

Lorelai stole a peek at the scene and couldn't help smile.

She must have noticed because Jaiden stopped. "Sorry, Mommy," she apologized again, dropping her stuffed animals on either side of her.

"You're fine, sweetie," Lorelai reassured her just as she done before. "I thought you were putting on a puppet show."

Jaiden shook her head. "Stanley and Daddy Tiger was playing."

"Oh," she said with a nod. "Is Daddy Tiger what you named him?"

She nodded that time. "Because Daddy calls me Tiger, so he's Daddy Tiger."

"Can I be Tiger Mommy?" Lorelai tried to play along.

Jaiden hesitated, looking away. It seemed like she wanted to say no but didn't want to hurt Lorelai's feelings.

"It's okay if it's just a thing between you and Daddy, sweetie. I won't be upset if you say no, I promise." Though, that was kind of a lie, Lorelai understood it was only a thing between her and Luke, especially when her and Rory had their things when Rory was growing up.

Jaiden did try to steal a glance at her foster mom but then looked away right afterwards.

Lorelai reached over to playfully hit the front of her hat, knocking it down a little. Tilting her head to the side in front of Jaiden, she suggested, "maybe you and I can have our own thing."

That time, Jaiden managed to hold her gaze on her again and gave another timid shrug with one shoulder.

"I'm sure we can come up with something. It doesn't have to be right now." Lorelai gave her another smile. "Some things can't be rushed, huh? It takes time."

That time, Jaiden managed to smile, in return.

Turning their focus back to the camera, Lorelai set the manual down on the table next to the scissors and got out the actual camera, taking it out of the foam wrapping it was in.

"Did you bring the batteries, sweetheart?"

Jaiden reached into the pockets of her basketball shorts and pulled out two AA batteries, handing them to her which Lorelai thanked her for.

Opening the battery compartment, which was a little of a struggle and would probably be more of a struggle for Jaiden since it wasn't as simple as it should have been, Lorelai showed Jaiden how the batteries go in, explaining about the plus and minus symbols. She also explained how she doesn't use the batteries that come with it because sometimes they don't last as long as the ones they were actually using.

Once the batteries were inside, Lorelai turned on the camera, letting it load up first. She then sat back against the couch to make sure Jaiden could see, showing her the basic functions.

"I'm sure you can play around with the other stuff later to see what it all does," Lorelai told her and handed the camera over once she had shown Jaiden how to take a picture.

Jaiden sat up as she took the camera. "Grandma also sent that." She pointed over at something she had left where Jaiden had been sitting before.

Lorelai looked over and picked up a sealed package with a SD card inside.

"I don't know what it is but she said it's also for the camera so I can take more pictures."

"It's the SD card," Lorelai explained and sat up to grab the scissors again to cut the SD card out. Afterwards, she asked for the camera back and turned it off so she could insert the card inside the battery compartment, replacing the one it came with. This time, Lorelai let Jaiden turn it on, making sure she knew how since it was hers.

"Can I take a picture of you?" Jaiden asked when the camera was on and loaded up.

"Sure, sweetheart," she gladly replied. Before Lorelai let her, though, she made sure her hair looked nice enough and scooted back enough for Jaiden to get a good shot.

Jaiden held up the camera in front of her and pressed the shutter button until it snapped a picture.

Lorelai scooted back over to sit close to her. "Okay, let's see how it turned out."

She then brought up the album and Lorelai's picture came up.

"That looks good," Lorelai praised, happily.

It made Jaiden smile as she looked at it and nodded up at her.

"Hey, why don't we take a walk and maybe take some pictures of whatever we see? What do you think?" Lorelai suggested.

"Okay," she agreed.

"And while we're gone, we can get your pictures from camp developed, too."

Jaiden was even more excited to have her pictures from camp developed.

So, that's what they did.

Lorelai even grabbed Paul Anka's leash, sneaking up behind him to put it on before leaving the house, making sure to lock up first. They also switched Jaiden's laundry over to the dryer before they left, as well.

They walked into town first to drop off the disposable camera and bought a couple of water bottles from Doose's before heading towards the wooded area near the town, making sure to walk by the pond. Lorelai had also made sure to attach the wrist strap so Jaiden wouldn't be able to drop it.

Both of them got some great pictures. Lorelai made sure to let Jaiden go first if it was alive, like ducks or a squirrel so she could have a higher chance of getting a picture. Of course, with Paul Anka there, it was harder since he wanted to go chase them and Lorelai had to hold him back. Jaiden wasn't able to snag a picture of every single critter they saw, but she did managed to get a couple before they scurried away.

Aside from taking pictures, the two did enjoy the walk, even Lorelai, who wasn't much a fan of exercise. Towards the end, on their way back, they saw a deer which Jaiden was able to take a picture of. Since they were outside, the flash was turned off, so it couldn't scare the deer.

Once Lorelai and Jaiden got back into town, they picked up her camp pictures, as well as dinner. They also stopped by the video store and rented a couple movies to watch instead of the _Diego_ marathon Lorelai had suggested earlier. Jaiden was okay with watching movies instead and could watch her cartoon whenever she wanted to. Lorelai found a copy of _High School Musical_ for her but Jaiden picked out the movie _Beverly Hills Chihuahuas_ , renting both, along with snacks.

At home, Lorelai fed Paul Anka his dinner while Jaiden showered and got ready for bed. That actually wasn't such a bad idea and once Paul Anka was taken care of, headed up to do the same. Afterwards, the girls got everything set up in the living room.

While Lorelai was opening the take-out boxes, the phone started ringing. Knowing who it was, she suggested Jaiden answer it which she hesitated so Lorelai ended up having to tell her ahead of time who it could be. Jaiden was still nervous but with a metaphoric push, went to answer the still ringing phone before the answering machine could get it.

With another day ending, it was that time to call in and check on what should be now two of his girls which Luke was very happy about. Though it rang quite a few times before somebody finally answered. No one said anything, though.

"Uh, hello?" he said into the phone, confused.

"Daddy!" Jaiden suddenly blurted out, excitedly but Lorelai caught her blush and go silent afterwards.

He chuckled. "Hey, Tiger. I see you're home now." It was a relief to hear the kid had made it home, safely. "How did the rest of camp go?"

"Good. They gave us a birthday party for lunch, one for the girls and one for the boys," she said.

"Oh, that sounds fun. Did you get any presents?" So, Jaiden ended up having a late birthday after all?

"At first, I got some hair stuff and a Barbie doll that I was going to let Doula have, but Mal talked to someone and I got to trade it for a boy's bag. I got a remote controlled race car!" She got excited again at the last part.

Luke smiled, hearing how excited the little girl was for once.

"But, I could have helped you do your hair," April teased her sister.

"No, thank you." Even though Jaiden was always so polite whenever she said, no, thank you, it was still cute the way she put it, like she was saying, "there is no way in hell am I letting you do that." Or, maybe that was just Luke just thinking that way. The chances was probably the latter. Still, it was great to see Jaiden was becoming more bolder with each passing day.

"Did you know they were going to do that? Throw you all a birthday party, I mean," she asked.

"No," Jaiden shook her head. "They never did that before. They didn't tell us either."

"So, it was a surprise party?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

Luke and April shared a smirk.

Of course, Luke had to make sure to ask how the dance went last night, and if she had danced with a boy or not. Mallory, Stephen, and Jessica had been able to persuade Jaiden whenever one of those songs that told everybody what to do, but other than that, she didn't dance, just watched. The music was too loud for her.

Jaiden also told Luke and April about taking a walk with Lorelai and Paul Anka earlier and getting to take pictures, and now were going to watch movies, eat, and look at the pictures she took at camp. Before they hung up, though, Luke asked to give the phone to Lorelai so he could talk to her.

"Hey, so everything going well, so far?" he asked her.

"Yeah, everything seems great," she replied. "What about you? Everything going well, there?"

"Oh, yeah. We found this small little book store with a cafe that's open to a lake so we had lunch there. Really amazing view, actually."

Lorelai smiled. "That does sound amazing. So, you both had a good time?"

"Dad even found a book he actually likes," April pointed out in amazement.

Her eyebrows rose, impressed. "Really?"

"Hey, I read," Luke told both of them.

"Work invoices and expiration dates don't count," Lorelai told him, catching him let out an annoyed sigh which made her snicker at him.

"Whatever. The point is, I read. Can we just drop it?" he asked, wanting the subject changed while Lorelai and April snickered at him some more. "I hope you know this is why Jaiden is my favorite."

"You're not supposed to have favorites among your children, _Dad_ ," April said, putting emphasis on dad.

Lorelai agreed. "Yeah, _Dad_." She also put emphasis on dad, despite them being married and not one of his kids, though sometimes Luke questioned if she was also one of the kids. Isn't it usually the other way around with married couples?

Calling Luke, dad, also got a puzzled look from Jaiden.

"We're teasing your dad," Lorelai explained to her.

"Don't be mean," she told her.

"We're not, sweetheart," Lorelai reassured. "We're just having fun with him, okay?"

Jaiden didn't look convinced and wanted to talk to Luke again. So, Lorelai passed back the phone. "Daddy, are you okay?" she asked into the phone, sounding worried for him.

"Yeah, Tiger, I'm okay. I'm used to your mom and April, and Rory, picking on me. I know they're not doing it to be mean," he too reassured her. It was probably best to have Jaiden hear it from him anyway.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Luke smiled at her protectiveness.

Both Lorelai and April smiled at the little girl's protectiveness, as well.

The four of them ended the call, letting each other go so they could all have dinner and wind down for the night.

Lorelai and Jaiden looked through the pictures first, really quick, letting Jaiden say who it was of. There were quite a few of all the dogs, including Chica, the camp leader's dog, and even some of the horses the kids got to ride, including the one Jaiden rode.

There were also pictures Jaiden took of her and Sydney, who had her arm around Jaiden. Mallory and Stephen, and some of the other volunteers were in a few pictures while the rest were pictures of scenes Jaiden had seen, including the lake they went to.

Lorelai couldn't help notice the ones Jaiden was in, how much she was smiling. Celia was surely right. This did not seem like the same kid they had met, several months ago.

Once they looked through all of the pictures, Lorelai set them aside on the coffee table and started the movie. She had to pause it to go warm up Jaiden's food for her in the microwave, and hers, as well before finally getting to watch the movie. They decided to watch _High School Musical_ first. Surprisingly, Jaiden ended up not liking it when it was over. It was okay but the movie wasn't her thing.

"I thought you liked that other one with the pop singer. You know, the one April and Rory took you to see."

Jaiden shook head. "I only liked some parts, like the horses and when she sang the song at the end about climbing. And, that Rascal Flatts was in it."

"Oh," Lorelai nodded. "Okay. We just assumed you were also into this stuff, too."

She shrugged. "It's okay, I don't mind it and can watch more. It's just not my favorite."

Lorelai smiled. "I'll keep that in mind, then. How's that?"

Jaiden just gave another shrug. "Okay."

After _High School Musical_ , they watched _Beverly Hills Chihuahuas_ which Jaiden did end up liking more. Jaiden did have some snacks but not as much as Lorelai ate so there ended up being snacks left over. With Rory, the two usually finished them all in one night.

Speaking of, halfway through the second movie, Rory also called to check in and to say good night, letting them know when she would be coming down there, tomorrow. Jaiden was really excited to hear Rory was coming home for a weekend.

Once the second movie was over, Jaiden yawned, signaling it was time for bed. The two cleaned up, throwing away their trash before heading upstairs. The leftovers had already been put in the fridge after the first movie. Lorelai got the lights on the way, making sure Jaiden got tucked in first. However, just as she was about to doze off, Lorelai felt the bed move. Turning over, she saw Jaiden's outline sitting there with both stuffed animals and blanket in her arms.

"Is it alright if I sleep with you, Mommy?" she asked politely.

Lorelai smiled up at her and in a soft tone, told her, "Of course you can, sweetheart." She helped Jaiden get situated underneath the covers.

As the girls laid there, it felt like back when Rory was that age. Lorelai tried not to compare this moment to the time spent with Rory, growing up, but could not help it. Luke's voice did break her thoughts, helping with that, at least, when Jaiden squeezed her tiger. As he sang, Lorelai started to sing along, as well, to the words as she gently brushed some hair behind Jaiden's ear until both girls slowly started to drift off to sleep.


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Lorelai's _Hello Kitty_ alarm clock went off at seven, the next morning. Reaching over without opening her eyes, she smacked the button to shut off the most obnoxious sound one could hear in the morning, especially when they'd rather continue sleeping. But, since Lorelai had to check in at the inn before heading for what she had planned to do with Jaiden, today, she had no choice but to accept the fate.

Jaiden stirred a little at the noise, making a light whimper.

"My thoughts, exactly, kiddo." Lorelai gave a slight chuckle, still waking up, herself. Maybe the two did have something in common, after all.

The kid rolled over, semi on her back to rub at her eyes.

"Good morning."

Jaiden stopped rubbing to look up at her foster mom, who smiled back at her.

"You sleep okay?"

She gave a timid nod. For the most part, the night went fairly well. Some time during the night, around the usual time, there was some heartbreaking whimpering that Lorelai tried to help calm. Eventually, she ended up feeling around in the dark to find Daddy Tiger to squeeze his tummy so Luke's voice could calm the kid which ended up succeeding more than she could. It was cute when Jaiden muttered, "Daddy," in her sleep, though. It was becoming clear this kid was slowly becoming a daddy's girl. There was no doubt, and there was nothing Lorelai could do about it. Honestly, as much as she wished Jaiden was at least somewhat a mama's girl like Rory was, both Jaiden and Luke did deserve this.

Lorelai pushed back a strand of blond hair behind her ear. "Good, I'm glad," she said.

"Your bed is softer than the one at camp," Jaiden admitted.

"It is, huh?"

She nodded some more.

"It's probably because the mattresses they use are probably old and have had several kids sleep on them over the years, where mine has had only a few bodies who had slept on it," she assumed.

"Makes sense," said Jaiden.

"That's my theory, anyway," she shrugged.

Jaiden nodded. "Can I ask what we are doing, today?"

"Well, remember the night before you left for camp when I suggested visiting your mom's grave?"

She nodded some more.

"I figured maybe once Rory got here, the three of us could take a trip there for the day, and maybe get some lunch afterwards. What do you think?"

"Sure," Jaiden casually shrugged.

"Yeah, that sound like a plan?"

She nodded. "Are we still getting her, her favorite flowers?"

Lorelai moved her head closer to barely touch her forehead to Jaiden's. "Of course."

Jaiden smiled a little.

With that said, the girls eventually got out of bed to start their day. Jaiden went to her room to get dressed while Lorelai changed in hers and Luke's closet, both meeting downstairs, afterwards.

Jaiden had ended up asking for oatmeal, thankfully a meal Lorelai can make.

While Lorelai was pouring herself a cup of coffee, the phone rang. She again asked if Jaiden could grab the phone, but this time, said she didn't have to answer it, just bring it to her which Jaiden did.

Pressing talk on the cordless receiver, Lorelai put it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lor," she heard Christopher greet through the phone, cheerfully.

"Chris, hey," Lorelai replied, also in a cheerful tone. "How are you? How's Gigi doing?"

"We're both doing great," he replied. "Been taking a lot of trips this summer. Just got back from visiting Sherry, actually."

"That's good. So, Sherry's still keeping in touch with her?"

"Yeah, she is. She calls twice a week and sends a birthday present on her birthday," Christopher explained.

"I'm sure Gigi is glad for that." Once the water had been brought to a boil, Lorelai carefully poured it in with the oats while holding the phone between her shoulder and head.

"She is. Gets excited every time Sherry calls. What about you? How's...Jaiden, right?"

"Yep." She set the pot back down, turning the stove off to stir the oatmeal.

"Rory's been filling me in on everything. What she could, anyway," he quickly added. "I know there's a bunch of stuff that can't be shared and I get that. But, I know she hasn't had the greatest life and lived some traumas no kid should have to live."

"It's heartbreaking, I'll tell ya, that." Now made, Lorelai carried the bowl over to set in front of Jaiden, who had been waiting patiently.

"Well, I'm sure she's got a great future ahead of her with you as her mom," he told her, knowing how well she raised their daughter.

Lorelai took the phone away from her mouth long enough to ask Jaiden, what she wanted to do and went over to grab the strawberry milk from the cupboard, agreeing with him.

"So, the reason I was calling was, I wondering if you'd like to have lunch tomorrow, with Gigi and me. You know, let the girls meet," Christopher suggested.

Her eyebrows rose in surprise at the invitation.

"I figured since Rory would be home, this might be the perfect time, and Gigi's been wanting to meet her. So, how about it?"

"You know what, yeah, that sounds good. I mean, Gigi…"

Christopher cut in. "I already plan to sit Gigi down and make sure to explain to her to be gentle around Jaiden. No sudden hugs or crossing boundaries without her say, first, so you won't have to worry about that," he assured her.

Lorelai thanked him.

The two, who were now just friends and Luke knew, ended for now, hanging up.

Since there was still plenty of water left, Lorelai decided to make herself some oatmeal and sat down at the table to eat with Jaiden, who had already started eating. Paul Anka also was eating his breakfast while the girls ate theirs. Though, Lorelai added more sugar to hers than she added to Jaiden's.

While cleaning up and rinsing off their dishes in the sink and placing them in the dishwasher, the front door was opened.

"Hello?" came Rory's voice.

The minute they heard the young woman, Jaiden dashed over to the small foyer. Shortly after, Rory entered the kitchen carrying the kid in her arms. She gave her mom a look to express her surprise at how light the kid actually was which Lorelai returned with one of her "I told you so" looks.

Eventually, Rory put her down and suggested Jaiden go get the pictures she took at camp, wanting to hear all about it. While the kid was gone, Rory hugged her mom and made small talk. Since there was still coffee left, she poured herself some while bringing her mom up on how work was going.

Jaiden returned shortly, and politely waited until the girls were done talking before passing the pictures to Rory, who took them from her and began looking through the stack. Rory was also filled in about what happened with Jackie, and about the birthday party. She was glad the majority of camp went well for her little sister.

Around the time Lorelai was due at the inn, she had to cut the foster sisters off, at least for now, to get ready to leave.

As Lorelai had planned, the girls stopped at the inn to check in with the new weekend staff they had recently hired, and made sure everything was going fine since this would be their first weekend on their own.

Lorelai let Jaiden take a ride on one of the horses since they were going to be there for a little while which the kid enjoyed, letting the stable hand in charge of the horses oversee it while Lorelai tended to a few things. Rory made sure to stay out there, nearby to watch Jaiden. By the time, Lorelai finished and returned, Jaiden was helping groom Cletus after the stable hand hosed him off since it was pretty warm out.

Once everything seemed to be running smoothly, the girls hit the road to head towards the cemetery. Lorelai had asked Celia when she picked Jaiden up from camp, if she knew where her mother was laid to rest, and thankfully she did. She also confessed Jaiden had been invited to the funeral, but considering it was being ran by Howard, who of course would be there, Celia didn't think it was wise for Jaiden to be there, as well.

On the way, Rory asked more about camp, wanting to hear more.

"Did you get to go fishing?"

Jaiden shook her head. "It got cancelled because nobody wanted to do it but me."

"It got cancelled for the whole camp or just your group?" she asked.

"My group."

"Couldn't you go with another group?"

Jaiden shrugged. "I didn't ask. But, Jamie said we could fish on our camping trip if I wanted to."

"Well, that's good. Jamie sounds like a nice guy," Rory smiled back at the kid.

"He is. He showed me how to find rocks- Oh!" Jaiden perked up out of nowhere. Had she not been wearing a seat belt, she probably would have hit her head on the roof of the jeep.

Lorelai looked up at her in the rearview mirror, "What?"

"I forgot. I gotta show you my new rock collection I have now. Jamie gave me a jar from his camper and we filled it with cool rocks we found at the lake and when we went hiking."

She smiled at the little girl's sudden excitement. "Oh, okay. Later, when we get home, you can show us." Lorelai didn't really understand the excitement of rocks. They were just little pebbles that were everywhere that dropped straight down. Paper weights, pretty much. But, if Jaiden liked them, she'd at least pretend to be interested for her.

The little girl smiled in return. "Okay."

Before they had left Stars Hollow, the girls had stopped at the flower shop and made sure to pick up some Hydrangeas that Rory was holding on her lap. When things had gotten quiet, Jaiden had started singing along to the radio since they were listening to her music for now. One song in particular, was about a little girl named Alyssa. At first, neither Lorelai and Rory understood the whole Alyssa lies part, exchanging looks between each other. That is, until the singer mentioned something about covering up bruises.

As Jaiden sang along, she kept her eyes on her window, occasionally closing her eyes. It was heartbreaking just listening to the words, and knowing their little Jaiden lived a similar life made it harder.

When the song was over, Lorelai heard Jaiden say, "I know why Alyssa lies."

It was Rory who replied, twisting around in her seat again, asking with sincere interest.

Jaiden hesitated at first.

"It's okay, Jaiden. Take your time," the young woman reassured her.

Staring at the back of Lorelai's seat, she picked up her stuffed animals that were leaning against her lap. Without looking up, Jaiden managed to say, "Alyssa lies because...it's a secret. Because nobody is supposed to know. If she tells…" She paused, now biting down on her lip.

"What would happen if Alyssa tells, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked in a gentle but encouraging voice, urging Jaiden to finish. Something told her, this probably wasn't actually Alyssa they were talking about.

A couple minutes went by as Jaiden squeezed her stuffed animals to her chests, causing Daddy Tiger to start singing. After a while, they heard her utter, "I-if she told...something more bad would happen." Her eyes filled up with tears.

Rory looked over at her mom which Lorelai glanced over at her oldest from the corner of her eye. She looked back to ask, "Who told Alyssa, something worse would happen if she told someone?"

Jaiden didn't answer right away.

Rory reassured the kid some more until Jaiden gained some more confidence. But, Jaiden ended up not finishing her thought and squeezed her tiger once more.

"When's Daddy coming home?" she ended up asking instead.

"Not until Monday, sweetheart," Lorelai answered her.

Jaiden fell silent afterwards, eventually resting her forehead against the side of the jeep beside her as she continued staring out her window.

It was a thirty-five minute drive until they pulled up to the cemetery and parked just outside the gate. Rory let Jaiden out on her side, passing her the flowers once Jaiden was on her feet. As the girls walked up to the open gate, the young woman wrapped a loving arm around the kid as Lorelai made her way over to walk beside them.

The cemetery was large with several sections with a funeral going on, on the other side from where they were. Celia had made sure to tell Lorelai which part Katherine was buried in so they were able to narrow it down from there. Though, it had been a while ago since she had received the notice for the funeral, so Celia wasn't one hundred percent sure on the directions she had given Lorelai. But, it was a a start. Being a large cemetery, it took quite a while, walking up and down rows of memorials and headstones and what Celia could remember actually did end up being the area where Katherine was placed and thus, only took about twenty minutes for Lorelai to find, calling the girls over.

Jaiden came over shortly after Rory did. Her eyes looked directly where her mom's full name was engraved.

 _Katherine Grace Reece_

 _August 5th, 1978 - May 19th, 2009_

 _Daughter and Mother_

Stealing a look up at her foster mom, who gave her a smile in reassurance, Jaiden took another step forward and laid her biological mom's favorite flowers right in front of the headstone, right behind a bunch of different colored flowers someone else had already placed there.

She stood back up and just stared at the spot where her biological mom laid.

No one said anything for a moment.

Lorelai couldn't help think about the last time she had seen the woman. A part of her still blamed herself, wishing she could have done more. Or, wondered if she could have done something, differently? Did she push Katherine too much? Was it not the right time? Or, was Katherine just too far gone?

Thoughts and questions filled Lorelai's mind that she could feel a lone tear escape from her eye and float gently down her cheek.

Quickly wiping it away and pushing back more that was fighting to follow suit, she asked Jaiden, sniffing in first in a nonchalant fashion as not give away she was close to crying herself, "You want us to give you and your mom some privacy, Jaiden?"

Jaiden didn't answer. At least, not right away. She continued to stare at her mom's name for a few seconds before she finally slowly looked up at her foster mom, and nodded. "Pl-please?"

Lorelai forced a smiled for the little girl. "Of course. Rory and I will be nearby in case you need us. Okay?"

She nodded up at her.

That said, Lorelai and Rory turned and moved out of earshot.

"I can't imagine what could be going through her mind," Rory commented in sympathy once they were out of earshot.

"I might have an idea, but I'm not too sure, either," Lorelai admitted as she watched the ground at her feet. She looked back to see Jaiden had kneeled onto her legs, sitting back on her heels. Jaiden was now staring at the small plot of grass that was also in front of Katherine's headstone. A minute or two later, Jaiden started pulling at the grass. Her back was towards Lorelai, so she wasn't sure if Jaiden was saying anything or just sitting there.

Instead of just standing around and watching, in case it made Jaiden uncomfortable, Lorelai and Rory decided to walk around, reading the names of other people who had been laid to rest there. They also read plaques and memorials some had dedicated to loved ones. They did make sure to stay close where Jaiden could still see them, which Lorelai frequently looked over to check on her.

Rory had been reading one headstone in particular, not far away from where Katherine was laid, but not too close they could hear each other. When Lorelai had walked by, holding her arms folded loosely in front of her, her daughter called her over.

"I think I found Jaiden's great grandfather," she said.

Lorelai looked at the headstone that read:

 _Howard Garrett Reece, Sr._

 _May 14th, 1915 - July 4th, 1976_

 _World War II Veteran_

 _Husband and Father_

"So, I'm assuming Jaiden's grandfather is Junior," Rory said after another minute and looked over at her mom.

"Seems like it," she agreed, still staring at the headstone.

"A lot of war veterans had dealt with PTSD after the war was over. You think Jaiden's great grandfather could have been the one who started the cycle of abuse, having to deal with the traumas he faced during the war?"

Lorelai shook her head. "I don't know. It could have been anything. Her grandfather could have even had a normal, loving childhood, and could have issues of his own. Stuff like that wasn't talked about back then." She did notice the day Howard Sr. passed and wondered what the cause was.

"You know, I could do a family tree search," Rory suggested. "See if I could find anything on what Jaiden comes from and her biological family's history. Might be interesting to find out, not just for us but for Jaiden, as well. Plus, knowing the family's medical history would probably be a good idea so we would have some kind of sense as to what could happen when she's older so she could be prepared."

Lorelai just nodded as she listened to Rory ramble on. Finding Jaiden's great grandfather did make her wonder who the cycle of abuse did start with.

Beside Howard Sr.'s grave, Lorelai noticed one that read:

 _Presley Melanie Reece_

 _September 24th, 1916 - April 14th, 1968_

 _Devoted Wife and Loving Mother_

Catching her first name, Lorelai pointed it out to Rory. "Now we know where Jaiden got her middle name from."

"Either her mom or her grandfather must have been close with the woman," Rory guessed.

"Katherine never mentioned her grandmother," Lorelai said. "We only talked about her mother, Jaiden's grandmother."

"So, Jaiden's grandfather named her?" Rory asked, confused.

"Possibly." Though, if Howard was close with his own mother, surely Katherine would have been given her name. After all, Lorelai was named after her father's mother.

While in pondering on the name, she felt Rory gently nudge her arm, getting her attention to nod over in Jaiden's direction where she caught her repeatedly wiping her eyes. She told Rory she was going over there as Lorelai walked around her, heading over to check on the kid.

When Lorelai was close enough, she called over to her. "Hey, I thought I would come over and check on you. How's it…?" Before she could finish, Jaiden had shot to her feet and ambushed her, hugging Lorelai around the legs. Lorelai held her hands around the kid's head, noticing her hat on the ground where Jaiden had been sitting. She wasn't sure what to say except for, _it's okay_ , and Lorelai could guess Jaiden didn't feel okay, and knew that it was okay not to be okay. It was a lot for a kid to have to deal with.

Nudging her away long enough to kneel to the kid's level, Lorelai let Jaiden latch onto her neck, deciding Jaiden deserved to know it was okay to not be okay and asked if she wanted to talk about it. Jaiden didn't say anything. Instead, Lorelai felt the kid bury her face in her hair. Not wanting to push the kid, Lorelai just held her, letting Jaiden cry it all out. She wasn't sure what Jaiden had managed to say to her mom, but she imagined it was probably the feelings and questions the kid had since she was little.

The more Jaiden cried, the tighter her grip grew. As Lorelai was rubbing a comforting hand along the back of her upper leg, the kid's knees buckled and Jaiden dropped limp against her, she dropped her own knees to keep balance so they wouldn't fall over. Lorelai held onto her, letting the kid get it all out her system.

At some point, Jaiden had cried so much she had started coughing. Nudging her off, Lorelai had her take deep breaths when she could, now wishing they had brought something to drink with them. Once the coughing had passed, Jaiden dropped right back down on her foster mom.

Lorelai wrapped her arms around the kid's torso, this time. She could hear the kid sniffling from her shoulder. "Did this help, sweetie? Do you feel better, at least a tiny bit?" If Jaiden felt worse, Lorelai was going to feel ten times worse.

She felt the kid shrug without lifting her head.

"It will someday, I promise. Maybe not today, but someday it will." Lorelai rubbed a hand along her side.

The kid pretty much remained mute the whole time.

Giving her another few minutes, Lorelai asked, "You ready to go or do you need some more time?"

There was a short pause before Jaiden lifted her head to stand up. She looked back behind her towards her mom for a good minute, then looked back at Lorelai. "Go," she uttered softly as a mouse.

Lorelai rubbed her opposite side, this time. "Okay." She then stood up and motioned towards Rory to let her know they were leaving. Heading over, Lorelai picked up Jaiden's hat, brushing it off before placing it back on her head for her.

"Thank you," Jaiden still spoke softly.

As they headed towards the exit, meeting up with Rory, Lorelai felt Jaiden slip her small hand into hers. Though, it made her smile, it also broke her heart after seeing the kid break down.

Back at the jeep, Jaiden climbed in on Lorelai's side. Once the girls were all inside, Lorelai tried to ask if there was anywhere Jaiden was craving or wanting to go eat at, but Jaiden remained mute and just shrugged.

Since Jaiden's favorite food was pasta, they chose a restaurant that served pasta. But, when Jaiden wouldn't order what she wanted, Lorelai decided they should probably just head home.

Once they got home, Jaiden headed straight for her treehouse where she remained up there for a while.

Lorelai couldn't help find herself keep coming back to the window, looking out to check on the kid. This wasn't what she had meant to happen and was worried this might've made things worse. Though, it didn't seem like Jaiden was upset with her, so that was a positive.

Since they didn't get a chance to order at the restaurant, Rory warmed up the leftover Chinese food Lorelai and Jaiden had eaten the night before. While the last one was in the microwave, Lorelai headed outside to try and get Jaiden to at least come in and eat an egg roll.

"Jaiden?" she called up to the treehouse.

No response.

"Jaiden, Rory warmed up the leftovers we had last night if you're hungry."

Still no response.

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, Lorelai decided to climb up and test the door, pushing on it. This time, nothing was moved on top so she was able to open it all the way. Halfway in, Lorelai found Jaiden sitting in a ball across from the door, listening to her Rascal Flatts CD on a small CD/radio as it played _What Hurts the Most_.

"Hey, did you hear me?" she asked, gently. "Rory warmed up the food from last night."

The hat was blocking Jaiden's face as she hugged her knees to her. Even with the hat in the way, Lorelai could see the kid wasn't doing any better from earlier. So, pulling herself all the way in, Lorelai scooted backwards to sit beside her, wrapping an arm around her. Jaiden didn't push her away to Lorelai's relief.

"I'm here if you want to talk, sweetie." Lorelai rubbed her opposite upper arm. She pushed up on the front of her hat to push it out of the way so she could see her face.

Without lifting her head, Jaiden mumbled something. Lorelai couldn't hear her, correctly since she was mumbling into her arms.

"I can't hear you, sweetie."

Jaiden lifted her head but didn't look at Lorelai. "I wish Daddy was here," she said, a little louder.

"He'll be back soon," Lorelai reassured. "Is there anything I can do until then?"

Jaiden remained silent, that time.

Lorelai watched her for a moment. Remembering their plans for Sunday, she wondered if Jaiden would be up for going to lunch with Christopher and Gigi at this point. "Today took a lot out of you, huh?"

She laid her chin on her folded arms. The next track had started playing by now, playing _My Wish_.

"If you don't feel up for it tomorrow, I can cancel our lunch plans with Rory's dad and sister, and push it back for another weekend. I don't want to make you go if you're not up for meeting more new people."

Jaiden shrugged. "It's okay."

"You sure, sweetie? I figured since you wanted to come home, today, you wouldn't be up for lunch tomorrow, either."

"I was tired," she admitted.

Lorelai switched to playing with the back of the kid's hair, brushing it with her hand over and over. "But, you think you'll be up for lunch, tomorrow?"

She nodded that time.

"Okay, if you're okay with going." Her hand accidently knocked against Jaiden's hat, causing it to fall down in front of her eyes. Lorelai pushed on the back part of the brim to lift it back up.

There was a pause for a minute while they sat in silence. Lorelai looked around, noticing Jaiden had decorated the walls with several of her drawings she had drawn. What caught her eye, though, was the coloring page she had colored for Jaiden during the first time she took her to therapy. It made her heart very happy to see the kid had put the picture up with her drawings.

Jaiden ended up catching her off guard when she finally spoke again. "Did Other Mommy take her own life?"

Lorelai's head spun back around towards the kid. "What?" She didn't even think Jaiden knew what suicide was.

The kid chewed on her lip before repeating her question. "Celia just said, she died. She didn't say how. Did she?"

Lorelai pulled her in closer, wrapping both arms around Jaiden. "I'm afraid so, hun."

Jaiden stared at the floor of the treehouse. She was biting her lip some more like she wanted to say more but couldn't.

"I can't say how sorry I am, sweetheart. I tried all I could to help your mom. Really," Lorelai tried to reassure.

Jaiden shook her head. "It's not your fault."

Lorelai was taken back once again at what Jaiden had told her.

"Other Mommy…" Jaiden suddenly stopped her thought.

Lorelai didn't push her to speak, instead she rubbed a hand along her opposite arm again. "I know it was your mom who made the choice, sweetheart. I just mean, I hoped I could have been a friend for her, help her feel like somebody cared."

Jaiden remained quiet.

To help lighten the mood, Lorelai looked around. "You know, we should do some interior decorating in here. Maybe some pillows, a nice plant in the corner. A small fridge for cold drinks. What do you think about that?"

She gave a small, one shoulder shrug.

"Maybe we can go shopping tomorrow after lunch and look to see if there's anything you like," she suggested.

Jaiden finally looked up. "Can we camp out here, tonight? You, me, and Rory?"

"Well, Rory and I aren't much for campers," she admitted. "That's all Luke." The kid gave a pitiful puppy dog look. "Although, it'll just be right outside our house where there's indoor plumbing and a fully stocked kitchen. So, I guess it wouldn't be so bad, and I can call your dad to see if there are any sleeping bags in the garage."

That got a big smile out of the kid. "I can show you how to make s'mores if you want. We won't be able to melt the marshmallows, but it will still be good."

Lorelai grinned. "Who can say no to marshmallows?"

"So, can we?"

"Sure, why not. Let's go tell Rory."

The kid leapt up from where she was sitting and hurried over to the latch to climb down, stopping suddenly to let Lorelai go first. Lorelai tried letting Jaiden go, but she insisted, stating elders were first, thought she wasn't sure how she felt being called an elder.

Rory was glad to see the kid seemed to be feeling better and out of her hole. When Jaiden told the young woman of their plans for that night, she looked straight at her mom.

"Say, what?"

"We'll be in our front yard with running water and a fully stocked kitchen nearby. The only camping I would be willing to do," Lorelai told her. "Plus, if that's what Jaiden wants to do, then that's what we'll do. Who knows, it could be fun."

"Well, if we're going camping, we should order pizza and get some snacks," Rory pointed out.

"Right," Lorelai agreed.

So, that's what the girls did. Later, that evening, while Rory ordered the pizza, Lorelai and Jaiden checked the garage. Instead of waiting for Luke to call, Lorelai called him, asking for the sleeping bags.

Of course, Luke questioned why and what she wanted them for and was surprised when she told him, they were camping out that night. Pretty much put the guy in denial and it took Jaiden for him to believe it.

"I miss you, Daddy," she said afterwards, pitifully.

"I know, Tiger. I miss you too," he told her. "But, you're gonna have fun with your mom and Rory, I promise."

"You are coming home on Monday still, right?"

"Yep, you bet," he assured.

"Okay. Promise?"

"I promise." Once Jaiden finished talking to him, she passed the phone back to Lorelai, who filled him in on how the rest of the day went, including about Christopher calling that morning. When the two had first become friends, Luke was unsure about it, not really liking the idea, of course. But, Lorelai assured him, it would be purely a friendship and nothing else. She had chosen Luke, and that's what matters, and over time, proved it to him.

After Luke and April filled them in on how they're day was, they ended the call so the girls could get the treehouse all set up.

Jaiden climbed up first so Lorelai could pass the sleeping bags up to her.

Babette had been outside that time, tending to her garden and curiously asked what they were up to which Lorelai explained they were camping out in Jaiden's treehouse. Even Babette was in disbelief to hear Lorelai was willingly camping out.

"Again, it's right outside our house where there is running water and a fully stocked kitchen." She was glad Luke had put screens in the windows so bugs couldn't get in, though.

Rory made a run into town to pick up the pizza and get more snacks. When she got back, the girls switched into their pjs inside the house before taking the food up to the treehouse where Jaiden had rolled the sleeping bags out and turned on the Coleman lantern Luke had placed in there when he built it. They made sure to shut the latch behind them and each chose a sleeping bag, tossing the flaps back. They had also made sure to grab some board games, setting them up on the floor in the middle.

As it grew later in the night, the air actually wasn't that bad, blowing in a cool breeze through the windows. Jaiden had ended up picking the best night to ask for a campout in her treehouse, and both Lorelai and Rory actually ended up having just as a good time as Jaiden did. Lorelai and Rory had even found a way for Paul Anka to get up there with them. But, the most important part was the fact Jaiden was feeling better from earlier.

At least for now, anyway.


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Before calling it a night, Jaiden finally showed the girls her new rock collection, including a couple that needed a blue light to see its markings, which the camp volunteer, Jamie, had also given her to have. It actually made the rocks seem more interesting, at least for Lorelai, and listening to Jaiden talk about all that Jamie had taught her. In her words, anyway. It made Lorelai even more proud than she already was of the kid to hear her go on about something she had learned, even if it was about a bunch of rocks.

The next morning, the girls was awakened early by a bird who decided it was a good idea to sing its early morning song right outside one of the treehouse's windows and of course it didn't possess a snooze button.

Leaving the sleeping bags for now, the girls headed inside to get dressed which Jaiden showered first. This time, the girls just had coffee and cereal. Well, the older girls had coffee, the youngest had her strawberry milk, of course.

While they ate, Jaiden out of nowhere asked if they could go to church that morning.

Lorelai stammered, unsure what to say as she exchanged a look with Rory. Neither one were churchgoers, nor were they religious.

Surprisingly, it was Rory who answered. "Well, since this is the weekend of trying new things, maybe church could be another interesting experience, and we do have time before we go to lunch with Dad and Gigi."

Despite being uncomfortable, Lorelai agreed if it was really something Jaiden wanted to do. So, after breakfast, the girls changed into nicer clothes, including Jaiden, and headed into town to the town's only church that was shared between the reverend and the rabbi.

Reverend Skinner was greeting people at the door when the girls got there. "Lorelai? Rory?" The man looked surprised to see both girls there. "Uh, welcome. What brings you girls here?"

"Hey, Reverend," Lorelai greeted cheerfully. "This is Jaiden. Coming was her idea. She wanted to come and check it out."

"Well, pleased to meet you, Jaiden," he smiled at her as Jaiden hid behind Lorelai's leg. "I have heard so much about what you and Luke are doing. She's so beautiful."

She thanked him before the girls went right in since they were holding up the line.

The girls stood in the back of the room as some of the townspeople were coming in to take their seats as well.

"Where do you want to sit?" asked Rory.

"Uh," Lorelai looked around. "Is there anywhere you'd like to sit, Jaiden?" She looked down at the kid, who was still clinging to her leg, peeking around at everyone.

Jaiden was about to step out and point to a nearby bench when Mrs. Kim walked by.

"Lorelai? Rory? What are you doing here?" the woman asked, also surprised. "In all the years I've known you, I never once seen you come to church."

Rory was the one to answer. "Jaiden here wanted to come and check it out."

Mrs. Kim looked down at the little girl. The second she did, Jaiden immediately ducked behind Lorelai once again and hid there. "Ah," she nodded. "I heard you and Luke were adopting. Congratulations."

"Uh, thank you. The adoption's not final yet, but it's getting close." Lorelai held a smile for the woman. Turning to the kid still hiding behind her legs, she said, "It's okay, Jaiden. This is Mrs. Kim, Lane's mom."

The little girl stole a quick peek around her foster mom's leg but quickly ducked afterwards.

"She's had a rough start in life and still getting used to the world," she explained to Mrs. Kim.

"I understand," Mrs. Kim replied. "Despite all that, I think it's wonderful the child has an interest in our Lord. Come, you can sit with me." Before either of the girls could say anything, the woman was heading towards the front.

Lorelai and Rory exchanged another look before following suit. When they headed around the front bench, Mrs. Kim waved them over and sat down, with Jaiden sitting between Lorelai and Rory.

Soon, the service was started. A few more of the townspeople were also surprised to see Lorelai and Rory there while they were asked to stand and greet one another. Some still hadn't met Jaiden, so the kid was able to meet more of the town, who just waved whenever someone said hello.

Taylor, who was sitting in the bench behind them had asked when he would expect to see Jaiden helping out with town events like Rory had done, growing up.

"Probably not for a while, Taylor," Lorelai told him for Jaiden. "Jaiden's really shy right now."

"What better way to come out of one's shell then by participating in town events?" the old man tried to point out. Thankfully, Reverend Skinner had everyone be seated again.

Though, the service was nice, Jaiden was really the only one who showed the most interest. After the service was over, Reverend Skinner had approached the girls to let Lorelai know there was a Sunday school class in case Jaiden wanted to return. With a little push, the kid agreed to try it next weekend, and that way, Lorelai wouldn't have to return if she didn't want to. Not that she didn't have anything against church. It just wasn't her thing and figured Reverend Skinner knew that.

On their way out, the girls ended up running into Hank and his family. The boy was excited to see his new friend and asked if Jaiden could come play with him and the other two boys. Lorelai had to say no since they had to leave for their lunch plans, but told Hank's parents to call sometime this week to set up a playdate. She wasn't sure about Monday and Tuesday since Monday, Jaiden had therapy, and Luke and April would be coming home. Tuesday was also the pre-trial, though Rory pointed out having the boys come over afterwards might be good to help cheer Jaiden up if it was too emotional for her.

"What's a pre trial?" Hank asked, inquisitively.

"It's like a meeting before a more important meeting," Rory explained in the most simplest for the kid which Lorelai questioned once they were heading for their house. She shrugged. "It was all I could think of to say where I thought the kid would understand and not have to ask more questions. Okay?"

Once they got back home, the girls changed since lunch was a lot more casual than church was and eventually climbed into the jeep. Lorelai and Rory made sure to grab some more coffee before they left while Jaiden grabbed some water in her water bottle from camp, from the water cooler. She also politely suggested Lorelai and Rory do the same so they could stay hydrated.

Since Christopher was in town visiting his mother, they headed for Hartford at the restaurant where they decided to meet at.

Rory greeted her dad and sister with a hug and kiss first before Gigi attacked Lorelai's legs, causing Jaiden to switch to Rory's legs like the _Flash_. The younger girl hadn't seen Jaiden standing behind Lorelai and was only told to be careful with her. Christopher had her apologize, though.

"It's alright," Lorelai assured, and introduced them to Jaiden and vice versa.

"Hey, Jaiden. Nice to meet you," Christopher waved.

"There was a boy in my class named Jaiden," Gigi pointed out like a child would whenever someone had the same name of someone else they knew. "I didn't know it was a girl's name, too."

"It can be a boy or girl's name," Rory told her. "And, spelled differently, too."

"I never met anyone with my name," she replied.

"Well, yours isn't really that common as Jaiden's is, I guess." They ended up continuing the name conversation on their way inside the restaurant and once they were sitting at their table the topic was changed to what everyone wanted to drink when their server came over.

Jaiden ended up sitting by the window with Lorelai on her other side and Gigi across from her, who offered to play her at Tic Tac Toe when she noticed the table had the small, wooden game with the plastic pieces.

Lorelai gave the kid a gentle, encouraging nudge with her elbow to get Jaiden to agree.

Gigi was already taken the pieces out of the wood and was dividing them by color. She explained the rules, regardless if Jaiden already knew or not, letting her be green since she had already picked red. Green was the color of boogers so Gigi didn't want to be green.

"But, green is also the color of Kermit the frog," Lorelai pointed out, trying to make the color green sound more fun.

Jaiden tapped Lorelai on her arm and whispered, "The Hulk is green, too."

"Yeah, the Hulk is green, and big and strong, too."

"Wow, big deal," Gigi said, unimpressed which Jaiden dropped her gaze.

Christopher reminded her to be nice. "You can have your opinions but respect others who like something you don't," he told her.

Lorelai looked at the guy, impressed.

The game was finally started, keeping the girls busy until their food arrived. It was also noted, despite the two year age difference, both girls were about the same height. For the most part, though, they seemed to get along while the adults chatted. Gigi seemed to be the one to take charge and a few times sounded a little bossy as kids could be in their age range, and Christopher had to remind her to ease off a little.

Once they all had their meals, Gigi continued the girls' conversation, going on about her dance class, her friends, and whatever else little girls talked about even after Jaiden had taken to drawing on the back of her kid's menu with the crayons provided while she ate.

After a while, Christopher happened to look over at what the kid was drawing, seeing the Hulk fighting Spiderman.

"Whoa." Christopher slowly put his glass down, looking surprised by the drawing.

"What?" Lorelai looked at what he was looking at and smiled. "That's an awesome drawing, sweetheart," she praised.

Jaiden stopped coloring in Spiderman to smile up at her foster mom.

Hearing Jaiden was drawing and was being praised for it, Gigi quickly turned her menu over to start drawing, picking up one of her crayons.

"That is really good," Christopher commented, still watching the older kid as she continued coloring.

"I told you, Jaiden can draw real well," Rory reminded her father.

"Yeah, but I guess my brain didn't connect how well she can draw."

Lorelai causally shrugged. "That's understandable. I've never met a kid around her age who can draw that well. Not once can I recall seeing a drawing like Jaiden's at one of Rory's school events."

"What about that kid in fifth grade who was always drawing the ship from _Star Trek_ ," Christopher pointed out. "He was pretty good at it."

"He was also older than Jaiden is now," she pointed out.

"Grandpa actually suggested Jaiden should go to an art school when she's in high school," Rory said, also proud of her little sister.

"Oh, yeah?" he said.

"She already showed interest when I told her, she could make cartoons for a living," Lorelai smiled over at Jaiden. "Right, sweetheart?"

Jaiden kept right on coloring in Spiderman.

"I'm pretty sure the Hulk would win in a match between him and Spiderman," Christopher stated in a playful, teasing way. "What can Spiderman do? Shoot webs? The Hulk can crush buildings and cars and even Spiderman if he gets a hold of him. What do you think, Jaiden?"

She stopped coloring again and tried to make eye contact with the guy but couldn't. Jaiden leaned over to whisper to Lorelai, "Spiderman can use his webs to tie up the Hulk," which she passed on out loud.

"Yes, but they probably couldn't hold the Hulk, who would just break free with his strength."

Jaiden dropped her gaze, ashamed she didn't have another comeback.

"I'm not saying Spiderman is bad," he assured her. "I'm just pointing out how the Hulk can combat his attacks. Spiderman does have the advantage of being able to swing in the air from things. The Hulk can't do that."

"He's not trying to be mean, sweetheart," Lorelai also assured her.

"Yeah, I'm just having a friendly argument with you. If done right, it can be fun to have those kinds of arguments. Right?" He looked over at Rory, who agreed.

"My friend, Paris and I have them all the time. Though, sometimes, she takes it a little too serious and I end up having to put a stop to it," she explained.

"See? I'm not saying you're wrong or right. Sometimes, it's healthy to have a friendly argument form time to time. Keeps ya thinking," Christopher tapped the side of his head and smiled for her.

Jaiden still didn't look sure but managed to nod her head in response, trying to look him in the eye again.

About that time, Gigi showed off her own drawing proudly of a ballerina. The adults of course praised her for her efforts. It was clear art wasn't Gigi's strength, at least not at the moment, unless she wanted to keep at it like Jaiden had done.

After lunch, they decided to head over to a nearby park and let the girls play and burn off some energy on the playground while the three adults continued talking while they watched.

Lorelai could still hear Gigi being a little bossy, quickly taking the lead in their play. Jaiden allowed it for at least fifteen minutes before Lorelai noticed the older girl head over to the spiderweb and climb up while Gigi had called out to ask where she was going.

Jaiden climbed up one of the sides, heading all the way to the very top where she curled her legs around one of the bars to hang underneath.

Shortly after, Gigi joined her and also climbed all the way to the top.

After a minute or two, Jaiden ended up jumping down when her hat fell off and landed on the ground. She picked it up and hurried over to whisper to Lorelai if she could hold onto it for her before hurrying back over to the spiderweb.

The adults continued talking, eventually leading into Rory asking how things were going with a woman her dad had been seeing the past year which Christopher admitted he was thinking of popping the question since things were going so well, and how much both he and Gigi loved her, and how much she loved them.

"That's great, Chris," Lorelai said, happy for him while Rory congratulated him, also happy to hear things were going so well.

Lorelai noticed another little girl had joined Jaiden and Gigi, who didn't want to go all the way to the top and asked if they would play on the slide with her. Gigi agreed for the both of them and told Jaiden what they were doing as she started to climb down.

But, Jaiden continued intertwining herself through the bars.

When Gigi was on the ground, she placed her hands on her hips and stared up at Jaiden. "We're not playing this anymore, Jaiden. We're going back to the slide," she called up to her.

Jaiden pulled herself up on top of the bars, sitting like a frog and shook her head down at the younger girls.

"Yes, we are. Mary doesn't like the monkey bars, they're too scary for her. So, we have to play something else. Now, let's go!" When Jaiden still refused to go with them, Gigi turned around to inform Lorelai and her dad, she wasn't listening to her.

"Gigi, hun, I don't think Jaiden wants to play with you at the moment. I think she'd rather play by herself for now," Lorelai told her.

"But, I want Jaiden to play with us," she argued back.

"I know, hun, but it's okay if Jaiden wants to just play on her own. Just give her some space for now and maybe she'll join you later."

Gigi reluctantly gave in and took her new friend, Mary, over to play on the main part of the playground that was the biggest and had four slides attached, two being those tube slides.

Lorelai watched as Jaiden continued climbing along the bars, noticing how flexible the kid was as she moved upside down like a sloth but faster. She was pretty sure she couldn't move like that.

Christopher must have noticed as well because he suggested getting Jaiden into gymnastics.

"Jaiden's not really into the girly stuff," she pointed out.

"There were boys in the class when Gigi took gymnastics," he pointed out.

"Plus, there are male gymnasts during the olympics," Rory added.

Lorelai hadn't really thought about that. "Do you know when gymnastics start, Chris?"

"It's year round. Jaiden can jump into classes this week if she wants to," he shrugged. "According to one of the other dads, gymnastics can help with other sports like hockey, basketball, and even football."

She perked up quick. "Wait, did you say hockey?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I guess learning to do the splits are like when a goalie has to stop the puck from getting passed him into the net. That's what the dad said, anyway."

Lorelai quickly looked over to share a look with Rory, then over at Jaiden, who was trying to tuck her legs in between her arms. She ended up having to let go and landed on her hands and feet. Thankfully, there was enough sand to cushion the blow so she didn't seem physically hurt. Brushing off her hands like Lorelai had shown her once, Jaiden moved forward and got right back up to try again, climbing underneath like Spiderman. Maybe gymnastics wouldn't be such a bad idea?

So, once it was time to say good-bye and head for their next stop, Lorelai decided to run the idea passed Jaiden.

"What do you think about taking gymnastics, Jaiden?" she asked, looking up into the rearview mirror.

Rory twisted around in her seat. "My dad says it can help prepare you for when you can finally play hockey, and you were really good on the monkey bars. And, he said boys were taking it too so it's not girly at all"

"So, what do you think?"

Jaiden switched between them with her gaze.

"You can think about it before you make a decision," Lorelai quickly pointed out. "We have to wait for Celia anyway since she's the only one who can sign you up for that kind of stuff."

"I never got to do art classes like you said I could," Jaiden pointed out, timidly.

That was actually unexpected, having completely forgotten that was discussed during a CFT meeting. Though, she was pretty sure Howard showing up got everyone's minds preoccupied and Lorelai had to admit to Jaiden about forgetting all about it.

"I'm sure she can take both," Rory suggested towards her mom with a shrug. "Gymnastics can be one to two nights a week, and art classes the rest of the week."

"Yeah, that could work." Lorelai ran it passed Jaiden, of course. "Wanna try that, sweetheart?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

"Okay, and when Celia returns, I can call and remind her. Okay?"

Jaiden nodded.

"Anytime any of us forgets about something, it's okay to remind us, sweetie. We won't get mad," she assured the kid. "Us adults have so much on our minds, every day, some things can get push away and forgotten. We're only human, after all."

"That's why I like writing things down," Rory said. "It helps remind me of things that need to get done."

Jaiden nodded some more.

"Remember, it's okay to speak up when you feel you're not being heard. You can even yell at me if you need to, especially if you're in pain. I mean, if it can wait and I'm in the middle of an important conversation, try and wait until I'm done, but if you're bleeding, definitely yell at me."

Jaiden nodded.

Changing the subject, Rory asked if Jaiden had fun at the park and during lunch, as well.

Jaiden nodded some more but admitted, "Gigi is bossy."

"Yeah, my sister likes to be in charge, a lot. She's actually gotten better about it but we're still trying to help her tone it down just a smidge more." Rory held up her thumb and pointer finger, holding some space between them. "Is that why you moved to the monkey bars?"

Once more, she nodded. "But then she followed me and she talks a lot, too. I couldn't keep up."

Lorelai smiled at that. "You mean, you're not used to me and Rory yet, either?"

That time, Jaiden shook her head. "Not really. Or April. Sometimes Daddy talks a lot but not as much like you."

"Oh, you got to hear one of your dad's rants, huh?" Rory grinned.

A puzzled look appeared on her face. "What is a rant?"

"When your dad gets going about something and he won't stop, kind of like what we do."

"I heard him do that at the diner," she shrugged.

"Let me guess, was Taylor there?" Lorelai asked up at the mirror.

"I think so. Maybe."

"Yeah, Taylor's usually one of the main reasons for one of your dad's rants," she said. "In fact, your dad's rants are one of the many things I love about him." Lorelai's face brightened when she said that. "Sometimes, the rants can get annoying, but most of the time, they can be really funny."

To their delight, Jaiden admitted, "Daddy is funny, sometimes."

"He sure is," Rory agreed.

"Yep," Lorelai also agreed, noticing Jaiden now lighting up, as well as they headed for the mall to end their day with a short shopping trip.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **In memory of Stan Lee and since Jaiden was into action heroes, I added that scene where she was drawing a couple of the characters. I also wanted to let everyone know, I recently was looking over my notes for this story and realized we all actually nearing the end, soon. It's been a great ride writing this story and it's certainly been a challenge. We still have several chapters to go but I just wanted to warn everyone ahead of time and thank you again for reading!**


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

As soon as they got home, Rory had to leave to head back to New York. Neither of them wanted her to go but she had to for work and said she would call when she got there. Lorelai and Jaiden waved her off until Rory was out of sight before heading inside.

Just as she had done, Friday night, Jaiden wanted to climb into bed with Lorelai again, who wasn't about to say no. She was sure once April was back, Jaiden would be able to sleep in her own bed

The next day, Jaiden had to tag along when Lorelai had to go back to work. She let Jaiden have another ride on one of the horses which brought up the question, when Liz would be back so they could resume the riding lessons. Liz had mentioned to Luke when she would be back so he would probably be a more reliable source, but Lorelai recalled him saying it was sometime in August but wasn't completely sure since things has been hectic lately. Jaiden admitted to missing Liz and TJ, and not because TJ brought her comic books either.

After the horse ride, Jaiden hung out in the living area of the inn, sitting in one of the arm chairs with her sketchbook on her lap working on one of her drawings until lunchtime. Sookie made a lunch for both girls before they had to leave for Jaiden's weekly visit with Melody, who wanted a one-on-one session this week, or at least to try having a one-on-one session since they have been meeting for a while and have gotten to know each other well enough.

At first, Jaiden was nervous and did not want Lorelai to stay behind in the waiting room, but with a shot of confidence from her foster mom, the kid managed to go in by herself for the whole hour.

Lorelai waited in the waiting room, skimming through old magazines. When she looked through all the good ones, she started pacing around the room until the door opened and it was Melody and Jaiden, returning. Melody thought the session went well, filling Lorelai in. They mostly talked about how camp went which she let Jaiden draw a picture instead, though she did give a few words about it. They also touched a little about how Jaiden was feeling about the pre trial that was happening the next day. Over all, the session seemed to have been a success.

On the way home, Lorelai's cell phone rang. Since she was driving, she just answered it without looking.

"Hello?"

Luke's voice came on. "Hey, it's me. Just wanted to call and let ya know we made it home."

Lorelai brightened up to hear Luke and April had made it home, safe and sound. "That's great. I have to go back to the inn, but I can stop by and drop Jaiden off and catch up before I go."

"Great, I will see you when you get home."

"Okay, bye." Both of them hung up which Lorelai closed her phone. She could hardly contain herself knowing one of the loves of her life was home, even if it was temporary.

Jaiden was staring out her window.

"Hey, guess who's at home, right now," she told the kid in the rearview mirror, getting her attention first.

Jaiden perked up. "Daddy?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yep, he and April are waiting for us."

A big smile appeared reaching from ear to ear.

"I told him I will stop by and drop you off at home because I have to head back to the inn for an event we're having tonight. So, I may not be home in time for dinner," she explained.

Lorelai noticed the smile vanish and Jaiden hung her head. "What's wrong, hun? Aren't you happy Daddy's home?"

"Yeah, but now you and Rory will be gone," she replied, pitifully.

"Hun, Rory and I have to work. That's what adults do," she explained. "I'll be home, later tonight, and I'm sure your dad might let you wait up for me if you want since it's still summer vacation."

Jaiden mumbled something that Lorelai couldn't hear.

"What, sweetheart?" she asked, gently.

Jaiden hesitated before she repeated it a little louder this time. "I wish everyone can be home."

Lorelai watched her for a moment, her heart sad for the kid. "I know you do, sweetheart. I wish everyone could be home, too, but everyone has their own lives, you know. Your dad and I own our own business so most of the time we can be flexible especially with making sure someone is home to take care of you," she explained. "Rory lives in New York because that's where she works, and April lives far away in New Mexico because that's where her mom moved her to so they could help care for her grandmother."

Jaiden looked up at that. "So, April is gonna leave too?"

"Yeah, she'll be leaving in, I think, about a week from today." She caught sight of some tears fill the little girl's eyes.

"Trust me, sweetheart, neither me or your dad wants Rory and April to leave, but unfortunately they have to. April's mom hasn't seen her all summer and I'm sure she misses her, too," Lorelai tried to help look at the situation from another angle.

Jaiden wiped her eyes on her bare arm. "Yeah," she agreed.

Lorelai smiled. "But, Rory calls every night and April calls throughout the year, and we video call each other on the computer once a week throughout the year when no one can visit and sometimes your dad flies out to see April's swim meets, so I'm sure he'll be glad to let you go with him. I know I've gone once or twice when I could, to help cheer her on."

Jaiden looked up at her. "What's a swim meet?" she asked.

"April is on her school's swim team where they compete with other schools in races to see who can swim to the other side of the pool the fastest."

"So, it's like a hockey game but it's swimming?"

"Well, kind of, except you don't use sticks and there's no balls or nets involved." Lorelai kept her main focus on the road ahead while occasionally glancing at Jaiden in the mirror. "You'll see, we still get to see everyone, it just won't be all the time."

Jaiden squeezed her stuffed animals in her arms as she stared at the back of Lorelai's seat.

"Have you ever heard that old saying, if you love someone, set them free. If it's meant to be, they'll come back?"

Jaiden shook her head.

"Those who we love will always come back no matter what. If anything else, time apart can even bring you closer together because it makes the times we do get to spend with each other even more special. You understand what I'm saying?"

"Um, I think so," Jaiden replied, though she looked somewhat unsure.

When their exit came up, Lorelai checked to make sure it was clear to change lanes. "I'm sure it'll also make sense as you get older and experience life on your own. Like that song you like says, life is a highway." She smiled for Jaiden. "Your dad and I will be here to help you learn how to maneuver life and hopefully learn from our mistakes as well as your own, but some stuff you're gonna have to learn on your own. As much as we would like to be, there'll be times you'll be on your own like when you went away to camp for a week. But, then you can use what we taught you and be the Jaiden Reece we know you can be."

That made the smile reappear.

"However, soon you won't be Jaiden Reece," she added.

Jaiden looked puzzled at that. "I won't?"

"Nope," Lorelai shook her head. "Pretty soon, you're gonna be Jaiden Danes."

One eyebrow rose still in confusion.

"That's mine and your dad's last name. I tried to get him to take mine but your dad wouldn't budge." Lorelai snickered at that to show she was kidding around.

Jaiden's eyes grew wide when she heard Lorelai say she would share their last name, followed by fresh tears. But it wasn't sad tears this time, Lorelai could guess that.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" she asked with a small smile.

Jaiden wiped her eyes with her arm again. "Nothing. I'm crying because I never been this close to being adopted before," she said, fresh tears still coming.

"That's because you hadn't found us yet," Lorelai tried to make it more lighthearted.

"Like Rascal Flatts sings," Jaiden pointed out this time, "God blessed the broken road that was leading me to you." She tried to recite the song's lyrics, word for word.

It made Lorelai smile some more. "You got it, kiddo," she agreed.

Now, they were off the highway, it was another ten minutes before getting back to Stars Hollow and soon, they were pulling into the driveway of their house.

Luke heard the sound of the jeep and stepped out onto the front steps just as Jaiden was hastily climbing out. As soon as her boots hit dirt, she made a mad dash for her foster dad, who met the kid halfway, scooping her up into his arms.

Jaiden wrapped her arms around his neck, squeezing him, tight.

Lorelai had taken her stuffed animals from Jaiden while she was climbing out. The kid must have been so excited to see Luke, she didn't grabbed her stuffed animals back first so Lorelai brought them over, stopping when she got to Luke. She reached up as Luke leaned forward to give each other a loving kiss while he held onto the little girl. In fact, this was what both Luke and Lorelai had always wanted and hoped for; to come home and greet each other while one was holding at least one kid. Neither of them wanted this moment to end. It felt right. No. It felt perfect. At least to them.

Like with everything, moments do have to come to an end. Lorelai did come in to say hello to April and grab some coffee before having to head back to the inn. Since they had called in and kept up with each other every night, including last night, it was easier to leave. Well, easy- _er_. But with one more kiss, Lorelai managed to pull herself away to head back outside to the jeep, hugging and kissing Jaiden, good-bye, as well.

Luke and April had pretty much unloaded already and started in on the laundry, letting April go first. Of course, Luke wanted to check in at the diner, make sure that it was still in one piece.

"Wanna come with me, Tiger?" he asked Jaiden first, who immediately said yes. "You coming, April?"

"Nah, go ahead. I'm gonna stay and work on my laundry and watch some TV. See if any of my shows got recorded."

"Okay." Leaning over, he kissed the top of her head before heading out to his truck, making sure Jaiden was following. Before she left, Jaiden made sure to hug the teen's neck.

Halfway to the truck, however, Jaiden had stopped in her tracks.

Luke hadn't noticed until he opened his door, looking back behind him. "What's wrong, Tiger?"

She also glanced back behind her before turning forward again. "I changed my mind. Can I stay with April?"

"Uh? Sure, if you want to." Luke was taken aback by that. "I'll be back in a little bit. I'm just going in to check on things. Okay?"

"Okay, Daddy." She at least hurried over to hug his leg before hurrying back inside the house. Luke just blinked in confusion. Once Jaiden was safely inside, he slid into his truck and headed for the diner for a couple hours.

Luke was only gone for only little over an hour, wanting to get back home to see his tiger cub after having not seen her for almost a week and a half, figuring he would take care of the important behind the scenes diner stuff tomorrow.

When he had returned, Jaiden was showing April, her new rock collection.

Stopping beside the coffee table, he placed his hands on his sides. "What's that?" he asked.

Jaiden jumped up on her feet and onto her foster dad which Luke lifted her up onto his side.

"My new rock collection," she replied. "I collected them at camp."

"Oh, cool," he replied.

"Yeah, some need a blue light to see its markings," Jaiden explained what she had told the girls.

"Really?" Luke stated, impressed, and reached over to kiss her cheek.

"Yeah, Jaiden's got some good stuff here," April commented, even more impressed. It looked like the sisters may have finally found something they had in common since April also had an interest in rocks. Though, her interest was mostly for science purposes.

Setting Jaiden down on her feet, he asked, "Hey, you know why your mom didn't eat any of the frozen casseroles I made for her to heat up while we were gone?"

Jaiden just shrugged. "I didn't know you made casseroles. We ate out all weekend. Can we have one tonight? I don't want to eat take out anymore."

"We definitely can, Tiger." He smiled for her, receiving one back.

While one of the casseroles heated up in the oven, Jaiden showed Luke and April the photos she took, not only at camp but the ones she took with the digital camera with Lorelai as she sat cross-legged between them on the couch.

She had also mentioned missing Liz and TJ to Luke, who asked if she wanted to call them to say hi.

Jaiden perked up, nodding her head, repeatedly.

So, Luke called Liz's cell phone.

"Hey, Liz," he greeted when she answered.

"Hey, big brother. How was your trip?"

"It went great. April and I had a lot of fun," Luke smiled over at April.

"That's good to hear. Listen, I can't talk for long since cell phones break the illusion," Liz reminded him. "Did you need anything?"

"Uh, Jaiden said she missed you guys and wanted to call and say hi," he smiled at Jaiden, this time.

"Oh, put her on!" Liz sounded very excited that time, seeming like she didn't care if she broke the illusion now.

"Okay, here she is." Luke passed the phone over to Jaiden, who took it and put the phone to her ear.

"Hi," Jaiden said, timidly. "Good...Yeah, I got them. Thank you… I had a lot of fun. It was the best time ever." There was a longer pause that time which Luke just assumed Liz was talking before she finally said, "okay… Love you too, Aunt Liz…"

Jaiden handed the phone back to Luke, who took it.

He put the phone to his ear to see if Liz was still there. "Hello?"

"She said, she loved me!" Liz practically screamed that into his ear. Luke had to switch to the other one. "I can't believe I got my first _love you_ from my future niece! This is so awesome!" Calming down, somewhat, she added, "I'd let her talk to TJ but he left to help out with one of the jousting shows."

"That's okay," he assured. "We can always call back later when TJ's around."

"I'll have TJ call you, how's that?" she offered.

Luke gave a causal shrug. "Sure, that works."

"Okay. I'd put Doula on too but she's asleep right now."

His eyebrows rose. "She's actually taking a nap for once?"

"Well, running around the fair does tucker her out." Liz snickered.

"I bet." Luke grinned. Trying to get his niece to take a nap has never been easy.

Eventually, Liz did have to go so the grown siblings ended the call and Luke tossed his phone onto the coffee table and went to check on the casserole. Once the casserole was heated up enough, the three of them sat at the kitchen table. While Luke served everyone, Jaiden volunteered to feed Paul Anka, remembering how much he gets when Lorelai had showed her.

Jaiden tried to stay awake until Lorelai got home but after all the excitement from the past week and a half, the kid was wiped out by nine and Luke had to carry her upstairs to her bed and lay her down. He removed her boots for her and covered Jaiden up before kissing the side of her forehead.

Tired from their trip, April decided to head to bed, shortly after which Luke made sure to kiss her good night. Despite being tired himself, he managed to stay up long enough until Lorelai got home, watching a baseball game in bed.

Since the house was quiet, Lorelai headed upstairs, sitting on her side to lean against him.

Luke kissed her. "How'd it go, tonight?" he asked.

"It went great, as usual. Despite Michel's crankiness, the party we were hosting said they would recommend the Dragonfly to all of their colleagues and friends," she replied. "How was things here?"

"Good. I went to the diner for about an hour to check in. Jaiden wanted to come at first but changed her mind last minute and wanted to stay here with April instead," he shrugged.

"Yeah, she found out April would be leaving in about a week to head back to her mom's and was pretty upset about it."

Luke nodded as it all made sense. "So, the weekend went well?"

"Yeah," she said. Both of them were watching the game, though Lorelai wasn't actually paying attention to what was going on. "We let Jaiden have time to herself with her mom. I don't know what she said but she was pretty shaken up about it. Poor kid."

"I bet," he said, wishing he could have been there. "Still can't believe you willingly camped outside." Luke couldn't help snicker at the thought, getting him hit with a pillow.

"Knock it off," she told him but managed to smirk about it.

"So, does this mean we can expect you at the next camping trip?"

"Uh, definitely not."

"But you did it," he pointed out.

Lorelai looked up at him. "Yes, because there was running water and a fully stocked fridge nearby. Get me one of those huge RV things and maybe we'll talk."

Luke rolled his eyes at the RV comment. "That's not camping. That is a luxury vacation on wheels."

"Why would anyone want to sleep on the ground with no running water, and surrounded by bugs, anyway?" she questioned.

"It's called getting close with nature," he told her.

"Well, I'd like to keep the relationship, professional. Thanks." She shifted her head on his chest. "Don't even get me started on that bird that decided to sing loudly at sunrise."

Luke just snickered at his wife. Pushing himself up, he kissed the top of her head before laying back against his pillow.

As comfortable and tired as she was, Lorelai had to get up again to shower. Once she had returned, freshly clean and changed into pajamas, Luke turned off the game and shut off his light before both lied down and fell asleep in each other's arms, ending the night with one last kiss, good night.


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Luke woke early before everyone else and quietly got dressed. Before heading downstairs, he carefully leaned over and kissed his wife, making sure not to disturb her beauty rest. Not that she could get any more beautiful, in his opinion she was the most beautiful woman on the planet.

He also stopped by the girls' room and poked his head in.

Jaiden's bed was completely empty. There wasn't even any sign of Paul Anka, who slept in there last night. His eyes moved quickly towards April's side, spotting the little girl curled up right beside the older girl.

Luke smiled at the scene, loving everything about it. It had seemed like only yesterday Jaiden could not get through a whole night without nightmares terrorizing her to death. Now, here she was sleeping soundly, snuggled right next to her soon to be big sister. Well, technically half sister but who cares about the technicalities?

Letting the girls sleep as well, and the dog who Luke spotted on the floor beside April's bed, Luke headed downstairs, where he made himself some hot tea inside a thermos to wake him up some more. On the way out to his truck, he grabbed a yogurt cup from the fridge and a banana from the bowl on the counter, to eat on the way.

Luke prepared and opened the diner that morning, getting everything ready for the day. Eventually, Caesar and Zach came in to help out with the breakfast rush.

Later, that morning, the girls eventually woke up.

Lorelai had to go into the inn that morning while April said she had promised her dad, she would go in and help out for a couple hours at the diner. Jaiden asked if she could go with April, still wanting to stay with her. So, when it was time to leave, Lorelai made sure to kiss Jaiden, good-bye, telling both girls she would meet them at Luke's for lunch, and for Jaiden to bring something to change into later for the pre-trial. Shortly after Lorelai left, April and Jaiden made the short walk to the diner, making sure Paul Anka would be alright. Lorelai did tell them, she would stop by the house to feed him, his lunch.

The moment they reached the diner, Jaiden hurried inside, coming to abrupt halt when Luke quickly reminded her the rule of when he had his hands full of plates. She apologized towards the floor.

"It's okay, Tiger," he reassured her. "You're not in trouble. Just reminding you." Luke offered to let her help him since he had a third plate that needed to be taken to a table, handing Jaiden the plate of food in his right hand that was least heavy. "Two hands. Careful."

Jaiden carefully took the plate from him with both hands and waited while Luke picked up the third one from where it was still sitting in the window to the kitchen.

Zach had come over to offer his help but Luke assured they got it and led Jaiden over to the table, setting the two plates down in front of their owners before taking the one from her and set it in front of the customer sitting directly across from where he was standing. Luke asked if they needed refills on their coffee and called over to Zach, to let him know since he had started making the rounds already.

With the customers taken care of, Luke was finally able to turn his attention towards his little tiger cub, lifting her up into his arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He grabbed her stuffed animals from where he had set it on the counter, passing them back to her which she politely thanked him for. Afterwards, Luke set her back on her feet and let her crawl into her favorite spot behind the counter.

Now and then, he would duck his head to check on Jaiden. To keep her busy, Luke let her refill napkins and condiments from in there, showing her how, first. He ended up having to reassure her when some salt was spilled all over, making sure to remind her that accidents happen.

Lorelai came by the diner just as she said she would, finally bringing Jaiden out of her hiding spot, who had only come out once to use the bathroom. The little girl dashed over to hug her foster mom, happy to see her.

After lunch, Lorelai suggested Jaiden head upstairs to change so they could leave for the pre-trial. Once she had returned, changed into her formal clothes, Luke headed up there to change, as well.

This time, April stayed behind to help the guys with the diner while just the three of them headed for Hartford. Since it was just the three of them, they took Luke's truck this time.

Lorelai had almost forgotten to slide in first and let Jaiden have the door. By the time she did remember, though, Jaiden was already climbing in. "Did you want the door, sweetheart?" she asked when Jaiden had climbed in.

"No, thank you," Jaiden shook her head, politely. "I want to sit next to Daddy."

Lorelai smiled. "Okay. Well then, scoot," she waved her hand, playfully so she could get in. Once Jaiden was over enough, Lorelai slid in next, shutting the door with her.

With traffic, it was a fifty minute drive from the diner to the court building, and another ten minutes trying to find a parking space. The whole way there, Jaiden was squeezing both her stuffed animals in her arms, snuggling closer and closer to Luke, as possible.

After a moment, Luke ended up driving with his left hand and holding his other arm around the kid.

Lorelai also reached over to rub an encouraging and comforting hand along her right arm. Eventually, she gave her hand a loving squeeze. Both of them pepped the kid up with a pep talk, making sure to remind Jaiden, they would be right there and that no one will let her grandfather hurt her or even make her feel inferior.

Heading inside the main doors, they did the protocol of going through security before meeting up with Kenneth. He gave them the rundown of would happen when they go inside the courtroom and what to expect. Pretty much, there's going to be a lot of discussions and arguments to try and come to an agreement.

Eventually, after thirty minutes, their case was called.

Luke and Lorelai were one of the last to enter the courtroom, following Kenneth over to his table. Jaiden clung tight to Luke's side. It was suggested Daddy Tiger wait in the truck during the hearing so Jaiden wouldn't accidently set him off. Not wanting him to be lonely, she decided to leave Stanley in the truck, as well. Unfortunately, that meant the kid did not have anything to hug.

Luke reminded Jaiden of giving his hand a squeeze if she needed to.

Everybody took their seats and busily started unpacking everything that was needed for the hearing.

It was Luke who noticed Jaiden was staring over at her grandfather when she noticed him sitting there, beside his attorney. Both men were quietly discussing to themselves as they shuffled through papers.

Jaiden had to sit on Luke's leg since there wasn't enough chairs. It was fine with them anyway as Jaiden preferred it. Holding his arms around her now tensed and shaking form, he rubbed a comforting hand around her side and quietly sang for her as she held a handful of his shirt in her hand.

Soon, the judge came out and took her seat at her podium, facing the rest of the courtroom. It was the same judge that had overseen the arraignment, actually.

Kenneth was first to share their side, pretty much as he had done at the last hearing. Howard's attorney also shared their side, trying to counteract their side. In the last few weeks, Kenneth had managed to locate a babysitter who Katherine had hired to watch Jaiden while she was working during the time the abuse had taken place and was able to interview the woman and get a few statements from her of what she noticed of the child which Kenneth read to the rest of the court, how Jaiden did have injuries in her private area and was hesitant to let the babysitter bathe her.

Luke felt himself tighten his arms around the kid, feeling the hatred for the man grow even stronger while Lorelai was just about ready to cry, reaching over to give Jaiden's knee a loving and sympathetic squeeze.

The look on Howard's face showed he wasn't pleased to find out more evidence was uncovered. He leaned over to whisper something to his attorney before calmly taking a drink of his coffee while his attorney spoke, stating how Jaiden was still being toilet trained and had gotten a bad diaper rash.

Luke was ready to just slug Howard, dead in his face.

However, going by all of the evidence, the judge didn't seem to buy it either, raising an eyebrow in Howard's direction.

The discussion continued with no one able to come to an agreement, and when they started discussing plea bargains, trying to get Howard to change his plea for a lesser sentence, he still refused, trying to sound like the good grandfather that he wasn't. Soon, it was apparent no agreement could be made so the judge declared the case would go to trial on a set date to be determined later.

As court packed up, Luke and Lorelai checked in on how Jaiden was doing.

"Do you remember that babysitter, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked, keeping her voice low so Howard couldn't hear.

Jaiden nodded slowly while looking at her, but seemed like she couldn't find her voice at the moment.

Both Luke and Lorelai stood up, which Luke lifted Jaiden with him, switching her to his side. As they were pushing in their chairs, an unwanted presence appeared on the other side of their table. They looked up to see Howard had somehow managed to slip over to their side, holding his briefcase in his right hand.

He was looking straight at Jaiden, who tried desperately to look back at him as if trying to be brave. Howard wasn't making it any easy for her. "I just don't understand, Jaiden Presley," he said.

"I could say the same for you, buddy," Lorelai told him, using the term, buddy, loosely.

Kenneth tried to ask him to leave but Howard ignored him. "I give you and your mother everything, and this is how you repay me?"

"You need to leave," Kenneth said, this time more of an order instead of a request.

The bayliff had also come over and reached for Howard's arm.

Howard tugged his arm away to add, "Both of you are the ones who are tearing this family apart, young lady. You were my little gem, I love you even now after all the trouble you caused."

"You're the one causing trouble," Lorelai shot back at him for Jaiden. "Stop trying to fill her head with lies."

Howard pointed at himself as if he heard the most outrageous thing ever. "Me? You're the one filling her head with lies. I told her people like you can't be trusted. You try and make me look like the bad guy when in reality, you are the ones who will turn on her." He turned back to Jaiden. "You hear that? They're lying to you, just like I said. I'm the only one who will always love you, Jaiden. Always." The bayliff started nudging him towards the exit as Howard continued to struggle. "Papa still loves you. No one else can love you the way I do, you hear me? There's only one way out of this and you know it. You did this, Jaiden Presley!"

Finally, the bayliff managed to get Howard out of the room as Luke took Jaiden out the other exit, the way they came in, reassuring Jaiden to not listen to him.

"This is why victims shouldn't be here until they have to be," Kenneth told them once they were out of the courtroom. "Especially if they're children."

"Howard's got nothing on us," Lorelai shrugged. "If anything, that makes him look even more pathetic."

"So, Jaiden will still be able to testify at the trial?"

"Yeah," she replied while Luke nodded. They looked at Jaiden, "right, sweetie?"

Jaiden was staring off towards the floor.

Luke tried getting her attention but she wouldn't look at him. "Your grandfather's just trying to scare you, Tiger. Don't let him. We're here for you, not him." He tried to kiss her cheek above her scar but Jaiden moved her head away.

Kenneth rubbed at the inner corners of his eyes in one hand. "This isn't good," he muttered out loud.

"How long do we have until the trial?" Lorelai asked him.

He shrugged. "The judge will set a date for several trials to start the same day, and could change depending if another trial ends in a plea agreement or aren't ready yet by the set date. We should know within a few weeks, though."

She nodded.

"And, don't worry about what Howard did. If anything, we can possibly use that to our advantage." Kenneth shrugged. "Hopefully, that doesn't end up scaring the kid into backing out, 'cause unfortunately, I've seen that happen. That's why we prefer the victims not come unless needed."

"We just wanted to oversee things for ourselves, including Jaiden."

"I understand," he assured. "It is a risk, though." Promising to keep in touch with them when the date is set and to meet ahead of time to prepare, Kenneth said bye as he headed for his office while Luke and Lorelai headed for the exit.

The whole way home, Jaiden remained quiet, not even singing when one of her favorite songs came on the radio. She just held onto Stanley while Daddy Tiger laid on the seat between her and Lorelai. This time, she wanted to sit by the door, basically hugging it.

At one point, Lorelai reached over to playfully grab a hold of her knee but took it away when Jaiden fully tensed up. It was starting to worrying them that Howard had indeed gotten inside her head after all. It was terrifying to think all the hard work that was done over time for her to start to heal could be shattered in just a few seconds.

Both Luke and Lorelai exchanged a quick glance between each other before Luke had to turn back to the road ahead.

Eventually, Luke pulled onto their street and shortly after into their driveway where he parked, shutting off the engine as he and Lorelai undid their seatbelts.

Lorelai noticed Jaiden wasn't moving. "Come on, sweetie," she gently encouraged. "We're home." She reached over to open the door for the kid, pushing it open.

It took another moment before Jaiden moved, almost forgetting to remove her seatbelt first when she made to scoot forward. When she did scoot over to climb down, she sat on her bottom to slide out of the truck, Luke noticed Daddy Tiger was left on the seat after Lorelai slid out.

Reaching inside, he grabbed the toy before shutting his door and headed around the front of his truck where the girls were.

Jaiden was headed in the direction of the house when Luke came over, holding the tiger out to her. "You left him in the truck, Tiger."

Jaiden did not look up or even acknowledge him.

Sharing another concerned look with Lorelai, he kneeled to her level. "Hey, look at me, " Luke told her, gently. "You can't let your grandfather get to you, Tiger. Remember what I said? Go with your gut. Your mom and I would never lie to you like he said. We won't ever trick you into thinking otherwise, okay? I have meant every word I've said, I promise."

He watched her for a moment. Jaiden kept staring at the ground, hardly moving an inch. Her form was so tensed it broke his heart just watching her.

Luke ducked his head to look her in the eye. "Can you hear me, Tiger?" he asked in a gentle tone. "You can trust…."

Being close to her, Jaiden flinched and suddenly started flinging her arms at him. It caught Luke off guard, getting punched once before he quickly tried to take a hold of her arms to pull her in like he used to. Small fists flew passed him just before finally grabbing her wrists and pulled her in, holding Jaiden firmly in his arms.

Luke started to sing for her but ended up headbutted and had to hold in the urge to curse out loud from the pain, dropping Jaiden in the process, who managed to crawl away from him. What happened next, practically shattered what was left of his heart as Jaiden stood on her feet, facing him.

"I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!" she yelled out. "You should go die, I hate you!" Then, Jaiden turned and sprinted towards her treehouse where she quickly climbed up the ladder and disappeared inside.

Luke sat there, kneeled in the dirt, staring after her. His eyes then shut tight towards the grass, the tiger still in his hand.

Having witnessed the whole scene, Lorelai wasn't doing any better. She pretty much wanted to get her hands on Howard's throat and claw it to pieces like a lioness. Forcing her feet to move, Lorelai walked over to where Jaiden had dropped Stanley and kneeled beside her husband to wrap a loving arm around his shoulders and held him.

Luke immediately looked up when she wrapped an arm around him and took a hold of Lorelai in return. The couple sat there, kneeled right there in the front yard, holding each other for a long time. It would have lasted longer had Lorelai's phone not started ringing. It more than likely was Rory, who had planned on calling, around this time, to ask how the pre-trial went.

Letting Jaiden have some time to herself for now, the two headed inside as Lorelai answered the call. Sure enough, it was Rory. She filled her daughter in on everything, including Howard getting inside Jaiden's head and undoing everything they had worked so hard for. While she was talking to Rory, Luke called April, to have her come home so they could fill her in, as well. They were going to need all the help they could get to pull Jaiden back to them.

Thankfully, it was a short walk for the teen, who walked in the door about twenty minutes later.

"What did he mean by there's only one way out of this?" April asked when they finished filling her in.

Luke shrugged. "Who knows," he replied. "I'm sure he was just trying to mess with her head."

"Well, he succeeded," she pointed out, though looked hurt when she did.

Lorelai couldn't help think on the possibility, thinking about the conversation she had, had with Jaiden in her treehouse, the other day and about Katherine. She didn't like what her mind had come up with and couldn't help worry as they sat around the kitchen table.

Luke's phone rang this time, seeing Liz's number flash on the small screen. She too wanted details as well, having him retell it all over again. While he was bringing his sister up to speed, the house phone rang from the desk in the downstairs hallway.

"Holy cow," Lorelai said as she stood up to go answer it, thinking of all the phone calls they were receiving just thirty minutes. "Hello?" She was walking back to the kitchen when she heard it was Babette on the other line. "Hey, Babette. This isn't really a great time."

"I'm sorry, sugar," she replied sincerely. "I felt I should probably call ya to let you know, I was walking out to work in my garden and I noticed Jaiden standing on top of her treehouse. She was awfully close to the edge, too. I didn't want to say anything 'cause you know how skittish she can be, and I didn't want to cause her to fall."

Lorelai shook her head as if trying to make sense of what the older woman was saying. "I'm sorry, what?" Though, there was some urgency in her voice.

Both Luke and April looked up at her in alert by the sudden tone change.

"She's standing right on top of her little treehouse." There was a short pause before she added, "dangerously close to the edge. I'm scared she might try to fly or something."

"Are you sure?" What kind of question was that? Pretty sure the woman wouldn't lie about something like that.

"I'm positive, sugar. She hasn't yet, looks to be second guessing herself but… Oh, God, she's stretching her arms!"

Lorelai thanked her before ending the call. "Jaiden's about to jump off her treehouse," she urgently relayed to the other two before dashing towards the front door.

Luke quickly told his sister, he would call her back before dropping the phone onto the table and springing from his chair.

All three hurried outside, looking directly to the right, in the direction of the treehouse. Luke skipped the steps, leaping right off and ran around to the side of the house.

"Jaiden!" He tried to get there in time, seeing her actually making the flying leap but gravity beat him to her, seeing his little tiger cub hit the ground and wasn't getting up.

Sliding beside Jaiden on one knee, he called for either Lorelai or April to call 9-1-1. Lorelai was still clutching the cordless phone in her hand, having had no time to set it back on its hook so she dialed and made the call, herself. When the operator answered, she could barely get her words out straight enough.

Luke was just as panicky. He did not want to touch her in fear of causing more damage. "Jaiden? Jaiden?" he tried to call to her. "Jaiden? Come on, Tiger. Please say something. Please, please, please, please. Jaiden?" His heart was racing by this point, beating hard against his chest. When Jaiden didn't stir, he could feel his face glow warm and actual tears fighting to surface.

"Tiger, please say something. Please, sweetie. Anything. Say you hate me. Just say something, please," he continued to plead.

"Dad?" he heard April speak instead. Her voice broke when she spoke, standing a few feet away.

He looked back to see Jaiden laying there, completely motionless, facing away from him on her front.

He placed his ear against her back to listen for signs of life, blowing a sigh of relief when he head a faint heartbeat. "Thank God," he uttered softly but still loud enough the girls could hear it.

Luke tried some more to call out to her but Jaiden wouldn't wake up. She just laid there in the grass, no doubt with at least a couple broken bones.

It was getting harder to fight back the tears until finally he just gave in and let them flow.

April was the next to break down, turning to Lorelai for comfort who was trying to remain calm enough to answer every question the operator gave her. When she was eventually let go, assured an ambulance was on its way, Lorelai too clung onto the teen, breaking down with them.

They couldn't lose their little Jaiden. They just couldn't…

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **The trial's time frame coming up, later, might be a little unrealistic but I don't care. As long as it's 85-90%, or mostly, realistic, it's fine. I've done as much research as I can on the topic.**


	58. Chapter 58

Chapter 58

By the time the ambulance arrived, swelling had appeared in Jaiden's right arm, the arm Jaiden drew with, Lorelai pointed out sadly. Having been extremely careful, they got a towel from inside and placed it underneath her head and kept a close watch on Jaiden until the paramedics got there and could take over, who immediately started taking her vitals and checking her over, themselves. Eventually, Jaiden was moved onto a stretcher, onto her back where they strapped her to a carry one first to be able to lift her onto the wheeled stretcher.

While Luke was gently lifting and cradling her head and neck in his hands to place the towel underneath, he noticed there was some swelling on the left side of her head which worried them even more. Neither him or Lorelai had never experienced anything this severe before, so it was now freaking them out. To top it off, everything seemed to move so fast, especially once the paramedics arrived that it seemed like they were in Adam Sandler's movie, _Click_ and someone had hit the fast-forward button.

With most of them tending to Jaiden, one of the paramedics talked with Luke and Lorelai, asking them questions regarding what led to this happening and her medical history, including if Jaiden had any previous head trauma in the past. There wasn't anything in Jaiden's file, Celia had given them other than the abuse Katherine had done. It wasn't a factor to rule out, though, as some of it more than likely might have been blows to the head, as well.

After the examination, the paramedics wheeled Jaiden inside the ambulance.

The paramedic speaking with Luke and Lorelai asked which one would be riding along.

The couple looked at each other.

"You should go," Luke suggested first. "You'll probably be better answering them than I could."

As much as Lorelai wanted to say yes, she shook her head. "You should go, Luke."

"But…." He tried to insist she'd be better suited until another paramedic stuck his head out the back of the truck, hurrying them along.

"Go, Luke," Lorelai insisted. "April and I can follow and meet you there." She gave him a hard, knowing look that insisted Luke was the one who should be there at Jaiden's side. He's the one that had formed a special bond with her, first.

Knowing time was precious at the moment, she gave him a firm push in the direction of the ambulance.

Giving in, he quickly gave her a loving kiss before following after the paramedic. Luke immediately climbed into the back, sitting in the bench seat right beside the stretcher. The same one who had hurried them along had shut the two back doors while the other hurried to the front passenger seat to slide in.

With the sirens blaring, the ambulance then rushed in the direction of the newest hospital, making sure to still drive at a reasonable speed to get them there, safely.

Lorelai rushed inside to grab her purse and assure Paul Anka they would be back, meeting April in the jeep. As she was running back out, Babette yelled out her condolences and told her to keep her and Morey informed and to let them know if there was anything they could do for them. Lorelai thanked the older woman as she reached the jeep, stopping long enough to respond before sliding into the jeep. She started the jeep before her seatbelt was even fastened, fastening it once she was on the road.

On the way to the hospital, Lorelai tried getting a hold of Celia, leaving a message on her voicemail. Since she still had the number to the camp saved into her phone from the week before, Lorelai also tried calling there since Celia was still up there with the teenagers. She had to leave a message on the answering machine as well, though.

For safe measures, even though she would have liked to talk to Celia instead, Lorelai called Jerry, as well, who answered on the third ring. _Of course_ , she thought to herself.

"This is Jerry Maguire," he said into the phone.

"Hey, Jerry, this is Lorelai Danes, Jaiden Reece's foster mother," she replied.

"Oh, Mrs. Danes, hello." Jerry sounded surprised as he should because she had never called him. Lorelai had always called Celia as rightly so. Only in emergencies was there ever a need to call him, or if there was a question that needed pending and for whatever reason Celia couldn't be reached. "Is everything alright?"

"No, actually. I was trying to get a hold of Celia because, well…" Lorelai paused in hesitation, realizing this was not a subject to bring to someone who had been in agreement to give Jaiden, medication and place her in a special group home.

"Yes, Mrs. Danes?" he urged her to finish what it was she was going to say.

Lorelai let out a sigh, knowing she had to tell him and went on to explain what had happened at the pre-trial and the events that had followed.

"I see," he replied when Lorelai was finished.

"Look, I know we failed at protecting Jaiden from this guy and it doesn't look good that an eight-year-old kid tried to commit suicide, but please don't take her away." Lorelai couldn't help sound pathetic as she basically pleaded with the man. "We responded right away and made sure Jaiden will get the medical attention she needs, and will do whatever it takes to help her recover from this, I promise. In fact, she was doing very well…" her tone tapered off. "That is, until Howard got into her head."

Lorelai exchanged a quick, worrisome look with April before turning back to the road when Jerry hadn't said anything. "Just, please, we can't abandon her. Not now. Not when she's gonna need us the most."

Jerry was still silent for some strange reason.

"Um, Jerry? Mr. Maguire, sir?" She exchanged another, this time, strange look with April.

"Mrs. Danes, Jaiden has shown more improvement with you than she has with anyone else, and you and your husband has shown the most effort than anyone else has, as well. If it were any other placement, I'd probably consider having Celia move her. However, considering Jaiden has already been placed in the group home we had considered, I can say, I feel keeping her with you would probably be the best option at this point, especially since you are willing to keep her."

Lorelai blew a sigh of relief. "Thank you so, so much. Jaiden's practically ours and I feel I would be abandoning my own kid or would be losing my own kid even, if she were to move somewhere else."

"She's still seeing Melody Gavins, correct?"

"Yes, in fact, we just saw her yesterday," she answered, turning the corner to head out of town.

"Great, because we may have her complete a psych evaluation with Jaiden, the next time she meets with her," he explained.

"A psych evaluation?"

"A psychological evaluation. It will help show us more what's going on inside her mind and how we can help her further." Before she could say anything about it, Jerry added, "it doesn't necessary mean she'll have to be prescribed medication, though there's nothing wrong with having to take medication as it could be beneficial for her, especially if she's having thoughts of suicide."

"I'm not saying there's something wrong with taking medication," Lorelai pointed out. "If it turns out, Jaiden needs it, we'll go from there. But, I just think that she may have had a weak moment and maybe this will prove to her, Luke and I are here for her until the end of time. Sometimes, that's just what someone needs, right?"

"Possibly," he said. "But, let's wait and see what Melody has to say after the evaluation, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed.

Before hanging up, Jerry made sure to tell Lorelai, they'll need a copy of the medical report and made sure she had Jaiden's medical insurance card each of their clients received while in foster care.

As Lorelai drove to the hospital, she couldn't help feel like Jaiden may in fact need more help than what her and Luke can give her. But right now, she couldn't focus on that. Right now, she had to focus on hoping Jaiden will make it through this.

The ride to the hospital wasn't going so well for Luke either. Unfortunately, this wasn't his first ride in an ambulance. The last time he sat in this exact same seat, his own father had been in Jaiden's place. For different reasons, of course.

His chest tightened as he watched his little tiger cub lay there motionless while the paramedics kept a rightful eye on her. A neck brace was placed around her neck to hold it in place while an oxygen mask was placed over her nose and mouth. Her right arm was placed in a large temporary cast that was fastened with velcro straps. Her head was also held in place with small, white towels and a thin strap that went across her forehead.

It had been so quick, they couldn't even rush in the house to grab Stanley. Luke hadn't even thought of it until just now, wishing he had it to place beside her.

He tried to keep it together, not wanting to lose it in front of the paramedics, though they probably seen people lose it more times than they could count. Luke didn't even want to think about how many may have died while riding in this ambulance.

Besides making sure Jaiden was doing okay, they also made sure to ask Luke how he was doing.

He just reassured them, he was doing fine, nodding his head. But, his head kept reminding him of his last ride along and the outcome that followed not even a day later. The thought made him feel choked up and Luke couldn't bare to go through the pain all over again.

He did not want another Dark Day.

Upon arrival to the hospital, the paramedics carefully in a timely fashion, got Jaiden from the ambulance and wheeled her inside, getting the attention of the doctors.

Luke hurried after, rushing to keep up as he fast walked while managing to stay by Jaiden's side until he was pushed to the side so the doctors could take over. Thankfully, Luke and Lorelai had requested for Celia to give them two copies of Jaiden's insurance card, so Luke was able to hand his over right away and fill out the needed paperwork as they asked question after question.

Luke wasn't sure how he managed to get through that whole process. Possibly because this wasn't the first time he'd been in this position? Whatever the reason, he was able to give every piece of detail he could of Jaiden's medical history and past trauma like they had given to the paramedics. Before he knew it, Luke was led to the waiting area to wait in anticipation for them to find out if his little tiger cub would be alright.

He couldn't even sit still and ended up pacing around the floor even when Lorelai and April had finally gotten there.

"How is she?" was the first thing out of Lorelai's mouth once she reached him.

Luke looked up at that point. "I don't know, they took her back as soon as we got here and swamped me with paperwork and insurance stuff," he sighed, tirelessly.

Her shoulders slumped in sadness. She was hoping to receive some kind of news once they had arrived. Lorelai then told him about having to call Jerry since she couldn't reach Celia on her cell or the phone in the camp's office, and about Jerry wanting to do a psych evaluation on Jaiden the next time she meets with Melody.

Luke did not want to think about having Jaiden take medication either, but if it was the only option in helping her then he'd be willing to try it. But, he also felt that Jaiden was just scared and confused and didn't know who to trust.

Lorelai ended up joining Luke in pacing around the waiting room, both holding their arms folded in front of them as they stared at the white and dark purple, tiled floor. April tried keeping busy by looking through the old magazines that were scattered on one of the tables near where she was sitting but every time Luke looked over, she would be tossing it back on the table and grabbing another one.

About two hours after Lorelai and April had gotten there, a doctor came out asking for Luke. All three hurried over to the light blond haired, thin woman who was holding a chart. Luke recognized her as one of the doctors who had responded when they had arrived. He informed her that Lorelai and April were his wife and daughter.

"I'm Dr. Abigail Taylor," she introduced to the family. "I will be Jaiden's doctor while she's here, overseeing everything."

Both Luke and Lorelai could barely contain themselves and both asked how Jaiden was doing, in union.

"We're doing all we can but she hasn't come to yet. We took x-rays and did a CT scan and found she suffered a severe, grade three concussion along with a skull fracture on the left side of her head. There is some swelling and tenderness but fortunately the skin isn't broken and the surrounding tissue doesn't seem to be damaged. Aside from that, there is also some bruising and swelling to the side of the brain we will monitor over the next seventy-two hours as more symptoms could appear later down the line that we can't see right now. But, right now, things look good."

Though all three were relieved, Luke blew the biggest sigh of relief, in knowing he wouldn't be losing someone else whom he loved and cared deeply about.

"However, because Jaiden not only fractured her skull, she also suffered fractures in her right arm and to the right of her chest that will require surgery to help them heal." When they heard Jaiden would still require surgery, Luke pretty much went white as a ghost and Lorelai looked just about ready to shake the doctor. Dr. Taylor must have caught on to their anxiety as she reassured them, "it'll be a simple procedure to realign the bones that got out of place."

The reassurance helped a little but the thought of Jaiden needing surgery still worried them. Luke more so than Lorelai, of course.

Dr. Taylor inquired how long ago Jaiden had eaten so they could give her anesthesia so she wouldn't come to while in surgery.

"Can we see her?" Lorelai asked afterwards.

"She's not conscious yet but you can visit with her briefly until it's time to take her to surgery." Dr. Taylor then led them down a few hallways until they came to a small room where Jaiden laid in a wheeled bed, leaving them alone for now.

Jaiden's clothes had been replaced with a hospital gown. The neck brace was gone but her head was wrapped in a thick layer of gauze. Her arm was set in a temporary sling for now to hold it in place. The breathing mask the paramedics gave her was replaced by a tube placed underneath her nose to continue helping her breathe.

Lorelai got choked up when she saw the condition Jaiden was in, while hooked to machines, wanting desperately to hug her but couldn't since Jaiden quite fragile at the moment and could do more damage than good. Thankfully, it wasn't worse as it could be. It was still hard seeing one's child all bandaged up. She was the first to walk over to stand beside the bed.

Leaning over the meal railing, Lorelai carefully kissed her left temple underneath where the gauze ended. "You scared us to death, kiddo," she softly forced a chuckle despite Jaiden not able to respond. She wasn't even sure if Jaiden could hear her.

April wandered around to the other side, grabbing onto the rail with both hands. "Hey, little sis. It's April," the teen also told her before reaching over to kiss her right temple when she didn't respond.

Luke was the only one who remained in the doorway. He watched the girls speak to the little girl despite not being able to answer back. It still scared him to think they had almost lost her again, and for permanent, this time. Almost everyone close to him seems to end up in the hospital. People wonder why Luke hates hospitals? Well, this was why. Most of the time, they don't walk out. Not his mom. Not his dad. Thankfully, April did, and Jaiden was supposed to, but there's still a chance something could go wrong in surgery or the concussion could get worse.

Suddenly, Luke felt very lightheaded and queasy. He touched a hand out to the door frame as he felt himself perspire bullets, wiping his face on the sleeve of his shirt.

It was April who noticed first.

"You okay, Dad?"

Lorelai looked up from Jaiden and over behind her at Luke, seeing him with his eyes shut. "Luke?"

"I'm fine," he tried to assure them but Lorelai wasn't buying it.

"What's wrong? Should I get the doctor back in here?"

He wiped a hand down his face. "It's okay, really," Luke continued to press.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, positive."

"Just in case, I can go ask where I can get some water," April suggested.

"Yeah, water sounds good," Luke at least agreed to some cold water. So, April went in search of water, coming back shortly with three cold water bottles.

The three of them sat with Jaiden for the duration of the wait time before she had to be wheeled off to surgery. Luke spent most of the time leaning against the wall until someone brought him an extra chair, despite being used to being on his feet for long periods.

Sadly, Jaiden still hadn't come to.

Once it was time to take her, all three took turns giving Jaiden a kiss and assuring they would see her in a little bit before a nurse wheeled her away. Another nurse led them to another room, where Jaiden will be taken following the surgery, to wait there.

The wait seemed like forever in which Luke had resumed his pacing.

By this point, Lorelai was in desperate need of coffee but did not want to leave in fear Jaiden could return while she was gone and Lorelai wanted to be there when she woke up. After ten more minutes, she gave in but ended up sending April in her place to find some coffee, who had to go to the cafeteria.

The surgery only took a couple hours, though, and Jaiden was brought in, shortly after. This time, the sling was replaced by a blue cast that covered her hand, all the way up passed her elbow. More gauze has been wrapped around her upper torso where she had been cut open to have a pin inserted but unlike her arm, it couldn't be placed in a cast so Jaiden would need to take it easy for the next six weeks which meant she would be sitting out for P.E. at the start of the school year while everything healed.

Dr. Taylor had also returned to explain the healing process and tell them the surgery went well. She'll need several weeks to fully recover but you should expect a full recovery unless more symptoms appear. All we can do is hope she'll come to, hopefully once the anesthesia wears off. It is a little concerning she didn't wake up prior to the surgery so if she doesn't wake by morning, we may have another CT scan done." She checked Jaiden's vitals before leaving them alone. Dr. Taylor also informed them once visiting hours were over, only one parent or guardian was able to stay overnight with young patients, so they could discuss who would be staying in plenty of time.

Despite really wanting to be there when Jaiden wakes up, Lorelai suggested, "Why don't I run home really quick and pack one of us an overnight bag, and grab Stanley and Daddy Tiger."

"You sure?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, plus, I can get some decent coffee, too. Whatever that was the cafeteria serves was pretty crappy."

He couldn't help but smile. The humor was definitely needed, though. "Did you want me to stay or did you want to?" A huge part of him did not want to leave Jaiden's sight any more than he had to, not even for a second much less a night. But, Luke was sure Lorelai wouldn't want to leave for the whole night either.

"Well, like I said earlier," she casually shrugged, "you should be the one to stick by her side."

Luke still couldn't believe what Lorelai was saying. Now that they weren't in a rush, he was able to ask, "Why? Jaiden hates me."

"No, Luke, she doesn't," Lorelai shook her head. "It's like you said, Jaiden doesn't mean it. Howard got to her and scared her, and she was trying to deal with it. You were the one who was able to start undoing all the pain that man has caused and help her see not all guys were like that. Jaiden looks up to you, Luke. After that outburst, you should be the one to be there when she wakes up. Not me," she shook her head once more. "You."

"I'm sorry," he tried to say, knowing this whole thing with helping Jaiden had been hard on Lorelai, the most, when it had been her who had suggested adopting in the first place.

Surprisingly, Lorelai shook her head a third time but with a smile. "There's no need for an apology. It's okay, really. I know now how special the two of you's relationship is. I will always be there for Jaiden, too, but she's a daddy's girl, through and through." And, she meant every word, too. Luke really should be the one to be there when Jaiden wakes up and Lorelai promised to be there as soon as visiting hours began, in the morning.

For now, April stayed there with Luke while Lorelai headed home, making sure to kiss both Luke and especially Jaiden. However, April ended up falling asleep and taking a short nap in the room's small chair/bed meant for patients' guests who were staying over with them.

After Lorelai had left, Luke pulled a chair up to finally sit beside Jaiden's side. At least he was feeling a little better from earlier, and Lorelai did promise to bring food for them, too, since they were starving by this point. All of their focus had been on the kid, they forgot to worry about themselves.

Some time had passed when he heard April stir. A minute went by before she got up and went around Jaiden's bed to take the other seat.

"Still not awake?" she asked.

"Nope, not yet." He forced a smile for his oldest.

Silence followed before Luke broke it.

"You know, I was in this exact same spot when I had to take you to the hospital." He wasn't sure why he was bringing this up. He still wasn't that great with the small talk.

April nodded at that, looking towards Jaiden. "Yeah," she said.

More silence followed.

"Sorry," Luke apologized after a few minutes, shaking his head. "I'm just trying to take my mind off of what happened today. How easily Jaiden was able to be torn down and believe that guy's lies."

"Who says it could have been easy?" April questioned, this time looking at him sideways out of the corner of her eye.

Luke shrugged. "I just mean, we spent so long trying to earn her trust and love her, and then her grandfather comes along and shatters it just like that." He snapped his fingers in emphasis.

"It may have looked easy but I'm sure it wasn't for Jaiden. No matter how many positive encouragements our minds receive, it still can dwell on the negatives," she explained. "I'm sure Jaiden must have been having a power struggle in her mind, and I'm sure she wanted to believe us, but her grandfather still has a hold over her, and when he said those things, Jaiden couldn't see another way out of it."

Luke looked from April to Jaiden. It was then that he too remembered Jaiden's mother, Katherine, and how she had taken her own life. He connected it to what Howard had told her. The thought made him feel sick to his stomach. How could anyone say something like that to a child? A child didn't know any better. They shouldn't be told stuff like that.

Luke scooped her left hand up that was laying there in front of him and gave it a gentle squeeze in both of his hands. He could feel a lone tear escape from his right eye as he looked at his little tiger cub laying there, as sounds of steady beeping was heard from the machines. The breathing tube was still underneath Jaiden's nose. Before long, Luke was singing the words to their song to her.

Lorelai walked into the pitch black house, only turning on the light in the kitchen. Setting her purse on the counter, she got the coffee down from the cupboard and started a fresh pot. She then slowly made her way over to the chair Luke had left pushed out and sat down.

Stanley was sitting there on the table. She reached for him, looking at the toy bulldog while holding him on her lap.

Paul Anka wandered over, sitting beside her at her feet.

Lorelai reached down to pet him as she continued to sit there. The events of that day played heavy on her mind.


	59. Chapter 59

**Author's Note:**

 **So, I missed a detail last chapter. It's a small one, but I wanted to point it out anyway. Jaiden should have a couple IVs sticking in her hand, with liquids and medicine that the doctors are supposed to give her for the concussion. Let's just say, she did have them and Luke was just careful of them when he was holding her hand. Just wanted to point that out. I'll let you get to the chapter already.**

Chapter 59

Lorelai packed a bag for both Luke and Jaiden, each. Before heading back to the hospital, she made sure to feed Paul Anka, his dinner, and made sure to grab Stanley and Daddy Tiger on her way out. She made it back in time to suggest Luke shower and change while she was there so someone would be there if Jaiden was to wake up and wonder who was in the bathroom. When he headed inside the room's bathroom, Lorelai took his seat.

Jaiden looked so small and fragile laying there on the hospital bed. It was Rory getting sick with food poisoning as a kid, all over again. At least to Lorelai. No parent wants to see their child sick or hurt, and Lorelai wished she could wave a wand and make Jaiden all better again.

Where's the Fairy Godmother when you need her?

Sadly, Dr. Taylor returned with the sad news of visiting hours being over but reassured the girls could return at eight AM.

Lorelai and April took turns, kissing Jaiden, good night. Lorelai hugged and kissed Luke, good night while April just hugged her father. Luke did steal a kiss to her head, at least. It took every strength Lorelai had to leave again.

Luke turned off the room's lights, minus one that had to stay on for safety reasons, and tried to lay down on the guest bed. The constant beeping from the machines didn't help much. Though, it was supposed to be a good thing as the sound told them Jaiden was alive.

Even if there wasn't any beeping, Luke probably would still be tossing and turning. Suddenly, he would shoot upright and look over to check on Jaiden.

A couple times throughout the night, a nurse would also come in to check on Jaiden, on her rounds, making sure to change out the IV bags for the liquids Jaiden needed to stay hydrated and the medicine that was to help with the swelling in her head, along with other things on the nurse's checklist she does on her rounds.

Luke did manage to get some sleep but was awakened when the nurse returned around four in the morning. He laid there on his side with his back to them, waiting until the nurse left. A few minutes after she was gone, Luke sat up to look over at the little girl. Jaiden was still laying there, completely still.

Finally, tossing away the blanket from his legs, Luke placed his socked feet on the floor and pushed himself up. He then made the very short trip over to sit in the chair beside her. For a moment, Luke watched her sleep. A part of him always thought watching someone sleep was creepy because if somebody watched him sleep, he would be a bit creeped out and wondered if it would make Jaiden uncomfortable.

Letting out a tired sigh towards the bed, he held his eyes closed for a moment. "I can't sleep," he confessed, mostly to himself. "I lost count how many times I've tossed and turned. How many times I've woken up to check on ya." Luke gently placed a hand on her arm and began rubbing it affectionately with his thumb.

Unfortunately, Jaiden continued to lie there, oblivious to the gesture.

Silence filled the room as Luke just sat there, holding Jaiden's arm. Soon, the events that took place the day before started replaying in his mind. He didn't think he would ever get that image out of his mind. Seeing his little tiger cub take that flying leap off her treehouse. The treehouse he built for her.

"How did you even get up there, Tiger?" he found himself asking out loud. He wasn't angry or upset. Well, he was but not at Jaiden. "I mounted in those windows, well, and I even put the door in the floor."

Luke held his gaze on her arm, not really looking at it or anything in particular. He blinked several times trying to wrap his head around what had happened. The more Luke thought about it, a wave of tears were fighting to surface and before he knew it, the first tear managed to escape.

As he sat there, trying to fight back the rest, he suddenly heard singing. Luke looked around the dimly lit room only to realize the singing was coming from inside his own head. The one singing was also actually his own mother, holding him as a little boy and softly singing the song he now sung to Jaiden. Before long, Luke was singing along, out loud.

"Little cub, when you play, pay no heed what they say. Let your eyes sparkle and shine, never a tear, cub of mine," he sang, changing a word. "If they knew all about you, they'd end up loving you too. All those same people who scold you, what they'd give just for the right to hold you."

Luke gently touched a hand to the side of her head, stroking her hair above the bandages. "From your head down to your toes. You're not much, goodness knows, but, you're so precious to me, sweet as can be, cub of mine."

Just as he finished singing, Luke noticed her eyelids flutter a little, followed by a tiny painful moan.

His heart practically skipped a beat at the possibility his little tiger cub was finally waking up.

"Tiger?" he managed to utter, ducking his head, slightly forward.

Slowly but surely, her eyes fluttered open. They didn't open all the way but Luke could see her peer around the room with a dazed look on her face. Dr. Taylor had mentioned there might be some confusion and possibly even some memory loss from the concussion.

"Tiger, it's me. Do you remember me?"

Jaiden switched over in his direction. She blinked, holding it for a few seconds dropping her gaze elsewhere. Suddenly, Luke noticed her whole body grow tensed.

Taking his hand away from her head, Luke reassured her, "It's okay, Tiger. It's okay."

She managed to steal a quick glance at him.

Luke grabbed Stanley from where the stuffed dog was leaning against her side and brought it closer to show her. "Look, your mom brought Stanley," he also grabbed Daddy Tiger, showing him, too.

Jaiden did not move, not even to take Stanley.

Setting the toys back down on the bed, Luke crossed his arms on the edge of the bed. "Listen, sweetie," he told her in a gentle tone, "I just want you to know that I'm not mad about anything that happened, yesterday. Not about the accident, and certainly not about hating me. At least not at you."

Jaiden was staring downward but it seemed like she was listening.

"Your mom and I told you, we would help see you through all of this and we're not about to stop now. We still love you, Tiger. You're a part of our family, and that's what family does." About that point, Luke could see some tears appear in her eyes.

When one started to leak out, Luke reached over to catch it with his finger. Even though Jaiden flinched and tensed up from the touch, he just wiped it away and took his hand back, folding it in with his other arm.

"I promise, Tiger, with my whole heart, we love you."

Her left hand moving caught his attention, looking down right as it timidly moved over to touch his right hand that was lying there beside hers and laid on top of his.

Luke looked up to smile for her to see her eyes giving an apologetic look.

Being careful of the IVs in her hand, he turned his over to take a hold her hand and began rubbing his thumb along the back of her fingers, affectionately.

"Nothing to be sorry for, Tiger," he assured her.

Luke wasn't the only one who had a hard time getting and staying asleep. Lorelai tossed and turned, along with beating up her pillow several times before finally falling asleep. Once she was asleep, Lorelai was awakened many times throughout the night to night terrors of losing Jaiden. At one point, she had tried calling Luke to check in only to realize his phone was dead.

Letting out annoyed groan, she growled towards the ceiling, "Luke, keep your phone charged!" before hanging up the phone on the nightstand. In reality, it wasn't Luke's fault since everyone was focused on Jaiden and not whether or not his phone had battery life or not.

Thankfully, she did eventually get back to sleep only to be woken up an hour and a half later from another dreaded nightmare.

Finally, Lorelai gave up and got out of bed. She then headed downstairs, grabbing her robe on the way and put it on as she went.

She went into the kitchen, grabbing herself a glass from the cupboard and filled it with cold water from the water cooler.

As she took a drink, her eyes shifted until they landed on the window in the living room where she could see the tree that held Jaiden's treehouse. After having her fill, Lorelai set the glass on the kitchen counter close to her and made her way outside, stepping out onto the porch. She made sure to shut the door, quietly behind her.

Making sure to tie her robe closed, Lorelai headed across the porch, taking the side steps on the side of the house while keeping the treehouse in sight. She stopped walking when Lorelai was standing right at the tree and stared up at the cozy, little treehouse. Her arms were folded in front of her.

The door was left open but Lorelai couldn't see in there, not even with the porch lights on.

Lorelai wasn't fond of invading anyone's privacy, especially Jaiden's, but she couldn't help find herself climbing up the built in ladder, with curiosity. Once halfway inside, she pushed herself up the rest of the way before getting up onto her legs.

The porch lights gave some light through the windows to be able to grope around for the Coleman lantern, switching it on. Light illuminated the treehouse.

Lorelai looked around the small room. They had been a tiny bit successful in finding a few items to decorate the place, including a rug with different zoo animals that Lorelai and Rory had been sure was meant for a toddler's room, but didn't try to talk Jaiden out of it since she had liked it. They also had gotten some throw pillows with cute, cartoon animals of deers, rabbits, and squirrels. If it wasn't apparent by now the kid did not like having things match, it was now. At least the theme of animals remained the same, even if one was zoo or circus animals while the others were woodland critters.

Looking around the treehouse, it was then Lorelai noticed Jaiden's rock collection was scattered all over the floor, and the box on its side behind her. She hoped the little girl didn't hate all of her new friends either.

Grabbing the box, Lorelai began picking up every rock she could find and placed them back inside. She made sure to find as much as she could, though wasn't sure how many rocks the kid had collected. Once Lorelai had all the rocks she could find, the box looked full like when Jaiden had showed them.

She went to set the box on the small table when Jaiden's sketchbook caught her eye, open to a page of one of her drawings. One of the figures in the drawing was of what looked like Jaiden, but smaller.

With curiosity stronger than ever, Lorelai scooted over to the table to get a closer look. It was indeed of Jaiden, seeming like she was a toddler, looking up at what looked like Katherine holding her head in her head while holding a wine glass on the table. Jaiden looked sad as she stared up at her mom. Despite having seen a ton of the kid's work, Lorelai still couldn't believe the detail Jaiden put in this particular drawing. She could see the sadness in the kid's eyes, almost as if Jaiden was pleading with her mom. Not to mention, the detail of how tired and dejected Katherine looked, and the colors Mallory had given to Jaiden, also surely helped, as well. The kid surely did have talent, that's for sure.

Wiping her eyes on her arm, Lorelai then turned the page to look through the rest of the pages. A voice inside told her, she shouldn't, that she should respect Jaiden's privacy, but another had hope maybe there was something in there that could tell them more of what was going on inside, not only the little girl's mind, but her heart, too.

The next page completely shattered her own heart upon seeing it, making Lorelai tear up more. She had to turn the sketchbook, sideways to look at the drawing. In the top, left hand corner, a younger Jaiden was sitting in a ball, with horror-filled eyes with whom Lorelai instantly recognized as Howard standing beside the bed, not wearing _anything_. His back was completely towards her, so she couldn't see any of his front, but his head was turned so it showed his profile.

Her eyes teared up as her vision blurred. Lorelai wanted desperately to take a pencil and scratch out the guy's face.

The drawing was so detailed, no kid could ever make something like this up.

Wiping her eyes on the sleeve of her robe, it was then Lorelai noticed the top half of Katherine in the bottom, right corner with her back to the scene and her eyes closed. At the top of the page, near the right of the page, it said, _why Mommy?_ Lorelai assumed Jaiden was referring to Katherine.

Turning the page again, not wanting to linger any longer than she wanted to, Lorelai turned to the third page.

This time, it was a drawing of just Jaiden and Katherine again. It wasn't long before Lorelai realized it was of the day Jaiden received her scar. Katherine held the little girl pinned on the floor with a knife raised in her hand as Jaiden struggled to avoid the basic household, kitchen knife. Even in this picture, Lorelai could feel the sadness and the pleading as she looked at the face of the little girl.

As she continued to look through the sketchbook, Lorelai saw many similar drawings of what she guessed were memories Jaiden had to live with. Each one broke her heart, especially the ones of her and Howard. Some made her stomach nauseous. She kept looking through the drawings until Lorelai came to a particular page. This page was not of a drawing. Instead, this was something Jaiden had written with words instead of pictures. In fact, she was sure it was written just yesterday.

 _I am scard. I don't no what to do. I yelld at Daddy. I hurted Daddy. But what if Poppa is right? But what if they r. My head hurts thinking about it. I wasn't sposed to tell. I wasn't sposed to tell. But my new mommy and daddy says they will potet me. But what if they r lineing? Poppa and other mommy say if I tell bad things will happin. I have to do it. Poppa and other mommy say so. New mommy and daddy if you see this I'm sorry. I had to. You made me very happy even if…_

The note ended there as if Jaiden couldn't finish.

By this point, tears were pouring down both sides of Lorelai's face. "Trust me, Jaiden. You make us very happy." Lorelai sniffed in, not even bothering to wipe the tears away this time.

The morning sun shined through the windows of the treehouse as that blasted bird sang its song once again, waking Lorelai from her slumber. She didn't even remember falling asleep.

Lifting her head from where she held it on her arms, on the table, Lorelai peered around as she tried to fully wake up. It took her a minute to realize she was still in Jaiden's treehouse and also to realize April was out there calling for her.

Lorelai closed the sketchbook, taking it with her. She held it pinned under her arm as Lorelai climbed down, shutting the door behind her. Once her feet were touching grass, Lorelai turned around to see April heading over, taking the same route as she had taken.

"You slept in Jaiden's treehouse?" the teen questioned in confusion.

"Well, I couldn't sleep so I came downstairs for some water. Then, I saw the treehouse through the window so I came out here." She motioned the sketchbook at her. "I found her sketchbook and I guess I fell asleep, looking through it."

"I was surprised Jaiden didn't take that with her to the diner, yesterday," April pointed out.

Lorelai shrugged at that. "Probably a good thing she didn't."

"Why's that?" she asked.

Opening to Jaiden's note, Lorelai handed the sketchbook to April to let her read it. As she read it, Lorelai could see the heartbreak in her eyes.

"Oh my." April looked up from the note. "It really was like I told Dad, last night. Poor Jaiden."

"That's not all," Lorelai said. "That's practically a picture diary of the nightmares Jaiden has gone through."

April flipped back through the drawings Lorelai had looked through the night before. As she did, April suddenly covered her mouth with her hand at some of the most painful ones. Tears appeared from behind her glasses. "My baby sis lived through this?" she questioned.

"I'm afraid so," Lorelai told her, sadly and reached out to wrap a comforting arm around the girl.

"I mean, it wasn't like I didn't believe. But…"

"I know, hun." Nobody could think things could be this bad. Or, they would like to think they couldn't.

"This is like…I don't know, like a storyboard for a Lifetime movie or something," April admitted.

"Well, a lot of those were based on true stories," Lorelai pointed out.

April laid her head against her stepmom as she stared at the drawing of Jaiden in a ball on the bed before she suddenly stepped away. "Wait, wouldn't this be, like, evidence or something?"

"Evidence for what?"

"For when the trial happens," she answered. "Can't Kenneth use this to help persuade Howard is guilty, to the jury? Or maybe Jaiden could show these instead of having to speak up, like if she gets overwhelmed or too scared?"

Lorelai's eyebrows rose at that thought. "Maybe. I could ask Kenneth about this." Just as the girls were about to head inside to give the guy a call, David and his friends rode up on their bikes.

Lorelai walked across the porch, heading for the front steps. "Hey, boys. Jaiden's not here, I'm afraid." She came down the steps and walked over to where the boys were sitting on their bikes.

"We came by yesterday too, to nobody home either." David shrugged, "What gives? Does Jaiden want to play with us or not?" Lorelai knew the kid wasn't trying to sound mean. Kids were just honest that way.

"She does want to play with you," she assured them, "more than anything, trust me. We've just had a little bad luck with finding time for it, that's all."

"What happened?" Javier asked. "My sister said, she overheard Miss Patty say there was some kind of accident."

"There was. Jaiden fell out of her treehouse and fractured not only her arm and chest, but her head, as well. We had to call for an ambulance to take her to the hospital."

The boys' eyes enlarged.

"Is Jaiden gonna be okay?" asked Hank, sounding worried.

"She will be. The doctors were able to help her," Lorelai assured all three of them.

"Hey, I got an idea," Javier suddenly declared. "Come on, guys." With that, the boys turned their bikes around and rode off down the street.

"That was weird," April commented.

"Yeah, well, boys are, and always will be, a mystery." Lorelai then turned to head inside the house where she dialed Kenneth's number on the house phone while her and April sat at the kitchen table. After making a fresh pot of coffee, that is.

The phone rang a few times before Kenneth answered.

"This is Kenneth Grier."

"Hey, Kenneth, it's Lorelai Danes," she said into the phone. "Sorry to call you so early in the morning. We just had a question."

"Oh, Mrs. Danes. No, it's not a problem. My days start pretty early, anyway. What is your question?" he told her, humbly.

"Well, we were just wondering if a child's drawings could be used as evidence during the trial, especially if they're as detailed and well drawn like Jaiden's are?"

"I don't know about using children's drawings as evidence, but if Jaiden wanted to testify through drawing pictures to what will be asked of her, she can. Children aren't required to speak. In fact, we can use puppets or dolls, as well," he explained.

"That's really good to hear," she told him, smiling over at April to let the girl know Kenneth had given a positive answer.

"How is Jaiden doing, by the way?" That's when the record player suddenly halted as the corners of her mouth dropped in realization.

Lorelai stuttered on her words. "Oh, well, uh…" Well, she was honest with Jerry, and Lorelai liked Kenneth. So, taking a deep breath in through her nose and letting it out in a sigh, told him what happened.

"Son of a bitch," he cursed to himself.

Lorelai suddenly looked surprised and confused. "Can prosecutors cuss like that?"

"Not in the courtroom, no, but us prosecutors are people, too, you know," he teased. "We put our big boy prosecutor pants on, one leg at a time."

"All right now," she told him with a smirk.

Kenneth chuckled briefly but then grew serious. "Though, it was good Jaiden survived as she is the only one who has the most chance of giving justice towards her grandfather, which is most likely why Howard tried getting to her head. Hopefully receiving that concussion doesn't take that away."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"With concussions, can bring memory loss. Sometimes short term, sometimes permanent," he continued to explain. "Over all, that could be a good thing if Jaiden forgets those memories, but if she can't recall the events that happened, nothing can be proven and she won't be reliable to testify against him."

"Seriously?"

"Like a heart attack," Kenneth answered, honestly.

Lorelai dropped her face into her free hand.

"You see this is…"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Lorelai told him, knowing exactly what the old guy was going to say. She still did not regret letting Jaiden go to the pre-trial. That was Jaiden's choice, wanting to conquer her fear of her grandfather and wanting to know what was going on for herself. She did, however, regret not getting Jaiden away from her grandfather, in time, to not let something like this happen.

"I mean, that kid seems like a tough one. I'm sure she'll bounce back from this." It was apparent Kenneth was trying to cheer her up. It was warming to know Kenneth was a nice guy, and was glad Norman had pointed them in his direction. Between him and Jaiden, she felt for sure they can win.

Thanking him, Lorelai told him, she would keep him posted on updates on how Jaiden was doing, including her memory, before ending the call, hanging up afterwards.

"So?" April asked.

"The good news is, Jaiden can use drawings to answer questions while on the stand. Bad news is, none of it will even be possible if the concussion took away what she remembers of the abuse."

The teen frowned at that. "Dr. Taylor did say it was a grade three concussion, the worst kind, and did warn us there might be some memory loss."

The girls stared at each other for a long time. As much as they would love to take away the horrible nightmares that Jaiden had to live with, sometimes remembering is what was best to be able to move on and even heal.

Things certainly looked bleak.


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Luke pressed the call button so the nurses would be informed Jaiden was finally awake. The nurse checked her vitals and made sure she was okay before letting Luke know she would inform Dr. Taylor once she came in for her shift.

The nurse returned with a pitcher of water, pouring Jaiden a cup, leaving it there for her. Jaiden ended up being really thirsty because she motioned timidly but in a polite manner for Luke to pour her some more which he gladly poured for her.

With Jaiden awake now, Luke definitely wasn't getting back to sleep at this point but was okay with it because he was able to help keep her entertained since she wasn't supposed to be watching TV. In fact, Jaiden couldn't watch or do anything that involved a screen for at least a week to help recover from the concussion, and the lights had to remain dim for her as they were causing her head to hurt when the nurse had turned them on.

The nurse also brought Jaiden a breakfast menu, letting her circle what she wanted while holding the paper still for her. She was also nice enough to ask Luke if he wanted anything. Since Lorelai had said she was planning on coming back with breakfast, he politely declined. When the nurse was gone, Luke assured Jaiden, Lorelai was bringing extra since hospital food was never that great in their opinion.

When Jaiden's breakfast did arrive and was placed on a wheeled tray in front of her, she at least tried the scrambled eggs before setting the fork down and shaking her head. At first it seemed like Jaiden was trying to be polite and continue to eat but Luke could see even she didn't care for it by the subtle facial expressions and let her know Jaiden did not have to eat it. The apple juice wasn't bad, though, so Jaiden just drank the juice for the time being until the girls could get there with a decent breakfast.

To past the time, Luke had asked the nurse if the hospital had a deck of cards or any board games they could borrow. She brought back a deck of cards which Luke taught Jaiden how to play Poker, going easy on her while the kid was learning the game. He also helped fan out her cards in her right hand so she could use her left hand to move them around.

It was during the game Jaiden got a strange look on her face and timidly patted his arm.

"Yeah, Tiger?" He ended up having to move his head closer, reassuring she could say or ask him anything.

"I have to go," she whispered.

The question didn't fully click on for Luke. At least not right away. "Go where?"

Jaiden hesitated before she could finally whisper, "Bathroom."

Luke sat back at that. "Oh," was all he could say. He thought about having them call the nurse back since Jaiden would need help but then remembered the nurse was practically a stranger and Jaiden didn't seem comfortable when she was checking her vitals. Plus, it would be up to him or Lorelai to help her once they were home, anyway.

He then heard himself offer, "Would you like me to give ya a hand?"

There was still some hesitation but this was where the test of trust would come in.

Promising she would be in safe hands, Luke stood up and tossed back the blanket that was covering her legs. Being careful of the IVs still in her hand, he lifted Jaiden down off the bed and walked with her to the bathroom, helping to move the IV stand for her.

During the whole process, Jaiden's form was tensed and flinched a few times. To help her feel at ease, Luke even turned around while she was sitting there so he wouldn't watch. Helping Jaiden did end up reminding him of the few times he had to take his niece to the bathroom while Doula was learning.

Afterwards, Luke helped wash her hands along with his before helping Jaiden back to her bed, lifting her up there. Jaiden scooted over to the pillow herself, though. It was one-handed but she managed to make it there, where Luke covered her up with the blanket for her before sitting back down.

"How you feel?" he asked, wanting to make sure Jaiden was doing okay after that.

Jaiden lifted her left hand, giving him a timid thumb's up.

"That's good," he replied gently, "because I don't want you feel like I would ever do anything to hurt you, Tiger. No one should make you feel that way. Your mom and I will gladly help you over these next few weeks while you recover and can promise you, we won't do anything without your say. Like when you were sick and your mom helped you? Remember?"

Jaiden looked out the corner of her eye before turning back to him and nodded.

"Yeah?" Luke smiled with hope that Jaiden was still able to remember more things about them.

She nodded timidly.

He hovered his hand over her left arm. To prove a point, he asked, "May I?" before gently touching it, giving her arm a gentle squeeze.

Lorelai and April headed back to the hospital as promised, stopping by the diner to grab breakfast, really fast.

On the drive there, Lorelai's cell phone rang, seeing Celia's name flash on the small screen on the front.

Flipping the phone open on top of the steering wheel, she answered, "Hey, so sorry to have to call you about this."

"No, no, don't worry about it," Celia assured her. "How's Jaiden doing? Is everything alright now?" The woman sounded worried and her voice was full of concern.

Lorelai filled Celia in on all that had happened, starting with how the pre trial went and what Howard had done to cause all this, and about the report Dr. Taylor had given them.

"But, Jaiden's gonna make it?" she asked in hope.

"Yeah," Lorelai replied. "For all we know, Jaiden could have woke up already. Since Luke's phone is dead, I couldn't call him this morning to ask."

"Hopefully," she agreed.

Lorelai also explained about calling Jerry in case it was needed and about what he had said. Unfortunately, Celia had to agree with him about having Melody do a psych evaluation with Jaiden, feeling that could be good for her. Once the women were finished, Celia said to keep her posted and would visit some time next week before hanging up.

After putting her phone away, Lorelai held the steering wheel with both hands as she took a deep breath in and let it out.

She pulled into the parking lot of the hospital around eight-thirty where the girls headed inside and up to Jaiden's room. Luke and Jaiden were playing another game of Poker when they walked in.

Lorelai couldn't be more than excited to see the kid awake and doing something. "Hey, sweetheart. How are you?" She came around to the other side to stand beside Jaiden.

As she done with Luke, Jaiden gave her foster mom an apologetic look.

Lorelai just smiled as she gently brushed her hand along the top of Jaiden's head where the bandages weren't covering her hair. "We were so worried about you. We thought we lost ya."

"Yeah," April said from beside her dad. "We were all so sad I couldn't stop my glasses from fogging up." She smiled for the younger girl.

Jaiden looked over when April had spoken. Switching back to her foster mom, she looked up with sad, puppy dog eyes to murmur something soft.

Lorelai lowered her ear closer for the little girl. "What was that, sweetie? I couldn't hear you."

Jaiden hesitated for a moment before she repeated, "M-mad?"

She looked back at her. "Oh, no, sweetie. We're not mad. Only worried, and scared we might've lost you for good, this time. That's all."

Jaiden stared up at her as their eyes locked before dropping her gaze towards the blanket.

That's when April decided to ask, "Do you remember anything?"

Without lifting her head, she nodded.

Lorelai couldn't have been more relieved. But, that wasn't what was important at the moment. Instead, she told Luke and Jaiden, they had brought breakfast as promised. Having not eaten since lunch the day before, Jaiden softly admitted she was really hungry.

"You can share my food if you're still hungry," Lorelai assured her with a smile.

While they ate, Dr. Taylor had finally come in to check on Jaiden. Like the nurse, she checked the kid over, but asked her questions like her name and other questions to test her memory. Thankfully, Jaiden's memory seemed in check. Aside from the sensitivity to light, things seemed to be looking positive for the kid.

After the family finished eating, Lorelai instructed Luke, he should get some rest and promised to sit with Jaiden for him to give the guy a break. Since Luke was a hard sleeper once he's fully asleep, neither of the girls would bother him if they kept the talking at a decent level.

April took her dad's seat while Lorelai pulled up another chair beside her so the girls could start a new game of Poker. Lorelai and April tried to go easy on the kid the first few games but as soon as Jaiden had the hang of how to play and winning a couple, Lorelai decided she was ready to take the "training wheels" off.

"You go, girl," Lorelai praised her when Jaiden had won her first time after they stopped going easy on her despite the kid being unsure when Lorelai had announced they were doing it.

A corner of the little girl's mouth lifted just a little.

While Lorelai was shuffling for another round, April's phone rang.

"Crap," April cursed when she saw who was calling.

"Who is it?" she asked with curiosity.

"My mom. I forgot to call her last night and didn't call her this morning, either." The teen answered the call and put the phone to her ear. "Really, really, really sorry, Mom," she began apologizing while getting up from the chair and stepping between hers and Lorelai's to take the call out in the hall. "Things have been crazy since yesterday. Jaiden fell out of her tree house and had to be rushed to the hospital." April opened the door to the room, stepping out into the hallway while closing it behind her as she explained why she hadn't called her mom.

April taking her mom's call left Lorelai and Jaiden alone. Well, Luke was in there, sleeping but he was practically sleeping like the dead at the moment now that he knew his little tiger cub would be alright.

Lorelai recollected the cards to reshuffle for a one on one game between the two.

About that time, Jaiden timidly reach for her arm but quickly took it back as if a snake was about to bite her.

Not making a fuss out of it, Lorelai just asked calmly, "Need something, sweetheart?"

Jaiden chewed on her lip for a moment before she finally murmured, softly, "Bathroom?"

"You need to use the bathroom?"

Timidly, she nodded.

Setting the cards down on the table they had been using, and pushing it further down the bed, Lorelai offered to help the kid down on her feet. Since it was around the time the nurse would be coming in to once again change out the IVs, she just called to see if the nurse could come in a little sooner.

The nurse returned shortly after and Lorelai explained it to her. So, having Jaiden sit back on the edge of the bed, the nurse started the process to remove the IVs from Jaiden's hand and let her use the bathroom while they switched out the bags as Lorelai helped the kid to the bathroom. It was a little easier not having anything sticking in her left hand but still needed some help. Like Luke had realized, Lorelai too thought of when Rory was learning to use the bathroom as a toddler.

Once the girls were done and their hands were washed, Jaiden made her way back to the bed where she tried to climb up, herself but the pain in her front was too much when she tried to climb on her stomach, causing her to land back on her feet. Lorelai offered to help lift her instead and Jaiden just scooted over to the pillow on her bottom, like she had done before.

The nurse also returned around the same time and this time only hooked Jaiden up to one IV for the medicine, bringing a refill of water in the pitcher since Jaiden had been doing good about drinking plenty of fluids, herself.

"You seem to be a very good patient," the nurse cheerfully commented the little girl.

Lorelai smiled from the nurse, over to Jaiden. "Well, she is a great kid," she responded when Jaiden hadn't. "Right, kiddo?" She playfully squeezed a hand on Jaiden's leg.

One corner of Jaiden's mouth lifted a little for a moment.

The nurse finished, including asking what Jaiden wanted for lunch. That is, until Lorelai mentioned a friend of theirs was bringing them all lunch and dinner. Since Jaiden didn't need a special diet, the nurse assured them that would be fine and left them be, for now.

Lorelai sat in Luke's seat this time, wishing they could turn on the TV. "Huh, April's not back yet," she noted, looking around the room.

Grabbing the cards, Lorelai asked, "Want to play a game until she…" It was then she noticed Jaiden was staring across the room. Lorelai looked over in the same direction where she had left, not only her purse but Jaiden's sketchbook, as well.

Standing up again, Lorelai headed over to grab the sketchbook and brought it back with her. "I found this last night when I couldn't sleep," she admitted.

Jaiden could not meet her foster mom's gaze when Lorelai admitted to finding it. Her form grew tensed when Lorelai flipped through the pages and stopped on the note.

"Why couldn't you tell us, sweetie?"

Tears were starting to appear in the little girl's eyes.

Lorelai reached out to gently take hold of Jaiden's left arm, careful of the IV tube. "Remember, I'm not mad, sweetie. I just wanted to hear from you. When I saw you leap off from your treehouse and laying there on the ground, not moving…" She stopped to swallow. "I was telling Jerry, if I lost you, it would be like losing one of my own because you are. I don't know what I have done if you didn't pull through."

She heard Jaiden sniff in. "I'm sorry, Mommy," Jaiden murmured softly and pitifully.

"It's okay, sweetheart." Lorelai rubbed her hand along her arm, affectionately. "I know you were scared and confused. I just…" She watched Jaiden steal a look up at her. "I wish I could have caught this sooner when you asked about your mom doing the same. Maybe I could have been a lot more help for you."

Jaiden looked away, staring towards her plastered arm she was holding in a sling.

"I'm sure your friends would love to sign your cast for you," Lorelai tried lighting up the mood.

She didn't look up.

"You know, they came by the house asking about you, this morning before we came here. They were really worried about you."

That time, Jaiden looked up again. "They were?"

"Yeah. They still really want to play with you." Lorelai smiled.

"Now, I can't play." Jaiden looked back down at her cast.

"You can still play, you just have to take it easy for a few weeks, and hey, you might even be better by the fall season to start playing hockey since it'll be after your foster care hearing when we can finally sign those adoption papers." Seeing the kid still not perking up, made Lorelai's smile vanish.

"Hey," she told the kid in a soft and gentle tone. "What's the matter?"

More tears were appearing in her eyes as Jaiden began shaking her head.

"Don't you still want Daddy and me to make you officially part of our family?"

Jaiden's chest was starting to heave. "Y-yeah."

"Then, what's wrong?"

Her eyes shut as tears were now starting to pour down both sides of her face.

"Talk to me, hun," Lorelai continued to gently urge her. "I'm here for ya."

"P-Papa…" was all she managed to get out for now.

"We're gonna make sure he can't hurt you anymore, sweetie, I can promise you, that," Lorelai made sure to reassure her. And, she was for damn sure she was going to make sure to keep that promise. "I can't say how sorry we are for letting him near you, yesterday, in the first place. As far as I'm concerned, _he_ basically pushed you off your treehouse." All the bitterness and hatred for the guy, Lorelai had held up inside of her forced itself out with every word she spoke.

But, Jaiden just kept shaking her head. "Th-there is… only one way...t-to make it...s-stop."

"Make what stop? Your grandfather?"

She sniffed in as she blinked back fresh tears.

"Other Mommy said so, too. They said…," Jaiden sniffed in. "If I told then...then...then…" That practically did it as Jaiden burst out crying. The only time Lorelai had ever seen the kid crying this much was during when she was asleep having a nightmare that Luke had to calm her down and wake up from.

Next thing Lorelai knew, she was rising from her seat and climbing onto the bed with her on the other side. She then pulled the kid in and wrapped her arms around Jaiden to hold her.

At that moment, Luke had woken up from the sound of Jaiden crying and shot out of that small bed like a torpedo, over to the girls.

"What happened?" he asked immediately.

Lorelai briefly filled him in that Jaiden was in the middle of saying something about what her grandfather and Katherine had told her when it got emotional for her.

Luke lowered himself down into his chair and gently took hold of Jaiden's left hand while Lorelai held her left arm around the kid. She rubbed her hand along Jaiden's upper arm.

"What did they say, sweetheart?" Lorelai asked her, gently once Luke had gotten Jaiden to take deep breaths before she hyperventilated.

Jaiden sniffed in some more. "They said… If… If… I-I-I…"

"Take your time, sweetheart," Lorelai reminded her. She was gently holding her head on top of Jaiden's where she held a kiss to it. "There's no rush."

Luke also decided to sing for her.

With both of them helping to reassure the little girl, Jaiden was able to just barely get the words out she was trying to say. "There is only...o-one way t-t-to make it...stop." She sniffed in. "And if I-I told anybo-dy, I h-h-have to do...do it or… I will wish I had."

Lorelai glanced up to exchange a look with Luke. She caught herself swallow hard before asking, "what do you mean, sweetheart?"

The kid's face was drenched in tears as Jaiden held her head against Lorelai. "P-Papa…" She choked out, halting there in hesitation.

Sitting up, Jaiden reached for her sketchbook and flipped the page the letter was on, over to the backside. On the back was a drawing Lorelai hadn't seen the night before, having stopped at the letter. The picture wasn't colored like the rest, just drawn in pencil. It was of a young Jaiden cowering in a corner with Howard towering over her, holding what looked like a folded belt in his hand and a speech bubble beside his head with the words, _You going to wish you were dead!_

"Papa always win," she managed to murmur once they both read it. "The only way to make it stop…"

Lorelai cut in, barely able to stomach another horrifying picture. "That's not true, sweetheart. People like him don't always win. People like him just say those things to make you feel less than them so they can have power over you."

"She's right, Tiger," Luke also jumped in, getting Jaiden's attention from the corner of her eye. "Ending it is not the only way. There are people who care and love you, and want to see you overcome this nightmare you had to live. I won't lie that I wish I could get my hands on the guy but then I will have to go with him to prison and I couldn't bear to leave my girls. You're all the only ones keeping me from murdering your grandfather."

"But Other Mommy said she tried to get away from him. She took us away a second time but then he found me again and she had to take her life and so now I have to," Jaiden told him, pitifully.

"No, sweetie, you don't," Lorelai told her, shaking her head. "My heart breaks that we couldn't prove it to your mom, but we can still prove it to you."

Listen, Tiger," Luke got her attention again, "We know it's hard trusting someone after somebody else already broke it. Believe me, we know." He shared a look with Lorelai who agreed with him, there. Turning back to Jaiden, he continued, "and, I know it's asking a lot of you but please, Tiger, just trust us. Put all you have left in us. We'll do whatever it takes to help you out of this nightmare."

Lorelai was now fighting hard to fight back the tears. "We have come too far to give up now, sweetheart. We don't want to see you hurt some more, and though, life is full of times where it'll try and tear you down, we won't let that guy do anything to you ever again. Trust me, nobody gets between a mama bear and her cubs, and I am one tough mama bear." The tears ended up winning and she choked out there but managed to grin, for the kid.

Luke was now finding it hard to stay strong for his girls, as well, feeling his chest heave a little. He managed to hold it in for them, especially for Jaiden.

"Just look at your dad," Lorelai tossed her right hand out towards him. "There has only been one time I've seen him, cry, and that was at Rory's high school graduation. But, when you fell, Daddy was blubbering like a baby even more, yesterday."

Jaiden looked from her foster mom over to her foster dad.

At first, Luke had been slightly embarrassed when his wife had brought up he had cried like a baby. But, when his little tiger cub looked at him, Luke couldn't help smile for her.

"I told you I wasn't lying when I said, we meant every word we ever told you," he reminded her. "I knew, and still know, in my gut you are the right fit for our family and nothing will stop me from protecting my girls, you can count on that."

"Same goes for me, kiddo," Lorelai added. "Kenneth says you can use all these drawings you created, in court if the words gets too hard to say and he's also willing to fight for you as much as he possibly can. Plus, you now have, not only a family backing you up, but a whole town who already loves and adores you. What do you think of that?"

Jaiden looked up at her. "A whole town?" Her eyes were wide in awe.

"Yep, you bet. They've always helped us out since Rory and I moved to Stars Hollow when she was a baby. You're just as lovable as Rory was, if not more." She snickered at that.

"And, don't forget you have your own friends you met at camp," Lorelai added. "Sydney may be moving away, you still have that couple with the dogs who wants to keep in touch with you, and let's not forget Stephen and Mallory."

"Can grown-ups and kids be friends?" Jaiden asked.

"Of course they can. Rory and I have been best friends since, well, since the day she was born."

A small smile appeared but suddenly vanished right before Jaiden turned back to Luke. It caused some pain in her head, moving it so fast but it seemed to pass after a moment.

"Daddy, does this mean we have to cancel the camping trip with Jessica and Jamie?" she asked, disappointment in her voice.

"We'll have to see, Tiger. Maybe," he shrugged. "Fishing does take both hands, after all, and we wouldn't be able to go hiking."

Jaiden dropped her gaze towards the bed in disappointment.

Luke rubbed his hand along her arm. "I'm sorry, Tiger. Maybe once you're fully recovered, we can go for a weekend when they're available, too." It broke his heart when Jaiden buried her face into Lorelai's side.

About that time, the door opened as April returned, this time talking to Sookie. Both of them were carrying the food the woman had brought.

"Hey," Sookie greeted cheerfully. "I come bearing way better food." She held up bags of styrofoam containers. "Enough for lunch and dinner."

"Thanks, Sook," Lorelai thanked one of her other best friends, while rubbing a hand along Jaiden's back.

"How's she doing?" she asked, meaning Jaiden.

Lorelai smiled, brightly. "She's bouncing back already."

"That's great," Sookie returned the smile and greeted the little girl, happily.

They set out the food for lunch on the table Lorelai's purse was on, to start eating. It was relieving to see Jaiden eating, as well.


	61. Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Like he had done the night before, Luke took the night shift once again when visiting hours were over and only one guardian could stay with their little patient. Lorelai made sure to gently hug the little girl and kiss her, good night on top of her head before letting April have her turn.

Stepping over to Jaiden's side, April also gently hugged her foster sister and gave her a sisterly kiss to the side of her head. She also hugged her dad, who kissed her, good night, as well.

Thankfully, everyone managed to get a better night's rest that night. Unfortunately, even after their chat, Jaiden still ended up being terrified and the nightmares had returned, waking Luke from his own slumber. He immediately got out of bed and rushed to Jaiden's side to wake her. It also brought the nurses in, who weren't sure what was going on and wanted to sedate her when it seemed like she was having some kind of fit. Luke had to assure it was only Jaiden having a nightmare, proving it to them when she finally woke up to him singing for her.

Luke had quickly moved to the other side of the bed so he could wrap Jaiden in his arms. When she realized where she was and who was right there beside her, Jaiden clung tightly to her foster dad's side. Both he and Lorelai both knew things wouldn't completely change immediately following their chat they had with Jaiden, and figured there was a possibility the nightmares might return.

It took a good bit for Jaiden to calm completely down and help her fall back to sleep. When she did, Luke had also ended up falling asleep, right there with her in the hospital bed. The nurse, who had been making the rounds every hour, tried to wake him, to encourage him to move to the small bed, but Luke brushed the suggestion, off, half asleep still before falling back to sleep.

The two of them ended up sleeping in the very next morning until Lorelai and April returned, finding Luke and Jaiden snuggled together, sleeping peacefully.

Lorelai smiled at the scene, stealing a smile with the teen girl. Reaching over without waking them, she placed a kiss to Jaiden's left temple, right underneath her bandages.

Upon touch, Jaiden started to stir and after a moment, her eyes slowly opened when Lorelai softly spoke to her. At first, the kid flinched but once her eyes were fully open and she realized who it was, Jaiden gazed up into her foster mom's eyes.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Lorelai smiled for her. "Did you have a good night?"

Jaiden reached up to rub at her left eye. While she did so, Jaiden timidly shook her head.

"How come?"

"I had another bad dream," she admitted once Jaiden took her hand away.

"I kind of figured that was the case when we came in and saw Dad in the bed with you instead of his," April nodded over at the unmade, small bed.

Lorelai gently brushed a hand over the top of her hair where it wasn't covered by the bandages. "Daddy help chase the bad dreams away?"

Jaiden nodded. "Mommy?"

"Yeah?" she answered softly.

"My head hurts," she said, reaching her left hand up to touch her forehead where she rubbed at it.

"I can call the nurse in for ya," Lorelai assured.

"Okay."

Lorelai stood up straight to push the call button. While they waited, she also gently smacked Luke, awake, to alert him, they were there and that the nurse would be coming in. Lorelai also joked that he probably scared the nurse with his constant snoring during the night whenever she came in to do her rounds, both her and Luke made sure to point out to Jaiden, it was all in good fun before she could get upset.

The nurse eventually came in a few minutes later. She checked Jaiden's vitals to make sure she was still doing well, leaving briefly to bring her some medicine for the headache, along with fresh water.

Some time around late morning, Jaiden ended up receiving another visitor when Rory came by to see her. It made Jaiden happy to see her other big sister.

"Jaiden, I was so worried when I heard about the accident," Rory told her as she gently wrapped the little girl in one arm.

Like she had done with her foster parents, Jaiden also felt inclined to apologize to her big sister.

"No need to apologize. I'm just glad you're alright." Rory pulled away to smile for the kid. "How you feeling?"

Jaiden put a hand to her forehead. "My head still hurts a little but not like it did, this morning."

"That's good. Hey," Rory went into her purse and pulled out what looked like a book of some kind. "I saw this on a friend of mine's desk at work and asked her about it." She showed the book to Jaiden.

Lorelai caught a glimpse of a boy looking upward on the cover.

"It's called, _A Child Called, It_ ," Rory explained.

Jaiden asked, "Why?"

"Why, what?" she asked.

"Why is he called, It?" Jaiden looked greatly concerned over the fact the child in the book was called, It.

"My friend says a man wrote this about his own horrors he had to face as a child and how he was able to escape from the hurt his mother had done to him. It made me think of you and thought you would like to hear about someone else being able to overcome their real life nightmares."

Jaiden still looked concerned.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Lorelai was the one to ask. "Doesn't that sound interesting?"

She looked between the women. "I can't read, good."

"But, someday you will," Rory told her. "And, for right now, maybe someone can read it to you."

"That's a good idea, especially since the doctor says you can't watch TV for a week," said Lorelai.

"I wouldn't mind reading it to you," April spoke up.

"And, if you do end up liking this," Rory briefly held up the book still in her hand, "my friend says there are two more books the author, Dave, wrote of not only his own time in foster care but his early adult life, as well."

Jaiden's eyes were constantly switching between her whole family. Finally, she told them, "Okay."

"Yeah?"

She nodded.

It seemed like Rory was happy and relieved Jaiden had accepted her gift. Rory then offered to read the first chapter to Jaiden, right then, if she wanted her to. Agreeing to the offer, Rory pulled the chair that was still at Jaiden's bedside, up to the bed and sat down.

Wanting to go check in at the diner, Luke let the girls know he was leaving for a few hours. A break from this place would be nice, as well. However, Jaiden frowned when he stated he was leaving but assured he would be back later around dinner time to take the night shift again, and leaned over to hold a kiss to the top of Jaiden's head.

"Love you, Tiger," he told her, afterwards.

"I love you too, Daddy," she returned, automatically.

It made him smile.

To his surprise, April said she would go with him, wanting to talk about something important and had to reassure Jaiden, she wasn't leaving because of her, urging the kid to spend some time with her other big sister.

Right before he left, Luke made sure to kiss Lorelai, and took requests from each of the girls of what they wanted him to bring for dinner. Luke and April then headed out to where Lorelai had parked, having to drive her jeep since he had come in the ambulance with Jaiden.

Being a little bit taller than Lorelai, Luke had to adjust the seat before starting the jeep, knowing well to put it back when he brings it back or feel the woman's wrath. Joking, of course. Or, so Luke hoped.

Once Luke was driving on the main road, heading back to Stars Hollow, he asked April what it was she wanted to talk to him about.

"Well, I was wondering if you could talk Mom into letting me stay one more week," she told him, full of hope.

Luke stared at his daughter in surprise out the corner of his eye. "You want to stay another week, here?" She was already passed the six week mark that Luke technically only had of April's summer vacation and in the past, she had always been so excited to be able to go home after not seeing her mom and friends for so long.

"You know, while Jaiden's home, recovering, so you and Lorelai wouldn't have to miss more work than you have to, and I can spend a little more time with her before I do have to go home for school. Please, Dad?" She was practically begging her dad by this point, looking desperate.

"So, I take it your mom's not too thrilled about this request," he assumed.

"Mom says I've been here more than enough of the summer and feels, what with her job and all, won't have enough time to hang out and go back to school shopping before school starts," she explained.

"Your mom does have a point there," Luke said, constantly switching between April and the road.

"Yeah, and I get that. But, even with school, I'm gonna mostly see Mom over the next nine months, and I want to get as much time to get to know my baby sis as I can, even if that means spending my entire summer here, but Mom's not getting that. That's why I was hoping you could talk her into letting me stay. Please, Dad? Just one more week, I promise." April was also quick to point out, "I rarely ask this much of you. I just want to spend more time with Jaiden, especially since we were robbed of a week while she was away at camp, and me and you were out on the boat."

Luke shook his head at the road. "I don't know, April." He glanced back at her for a brief moment before returning his eyes to the road. "You know how stubborn your mom can be."

"I've known her all my life, believe me, I know," she said in agreement. "Can't you just try, though? I'm sixteen now, shouldn't I have a say in where I want to spend my summer vacation?"

"Yes, you should, but you already spent most of your summer, here."

"I know. It's not like I'm asking to move back here with you. I just rather finish out the rest of my summer vacation. Please, Dad?" It didn't seem like April was giving up that easily.

Luke felt himself let out a breath of air. He'd love to have April stay a little bit longer. Hell, he was dreading the day she had to leave, in the first place. Luke also knew Anna wouldn't also give up without a fight.

Finally, he told her, "I will talk to your mom and see...," April perked up at that before Luke quickly finished, "...what I can do."

"Really?" she asked hopeful.

Luke nodded once. "Yes."

"Thank you, Dad. You're the best."

Before she got too excited, he also added, "Don't automatically assume I will have any more luck than you. Like I said, your mom can be pretty stubborn and I understand why she doesn't want you to stay another week. Time is precious, April. We both have two more years until you leave for college and we will have even less time to spend time with you."

"I know, Dad. I really do, and I do miss Mom, honestly. But, like I said, I live with her for the majority of the year. I know I act all embarrassed around you and sometimes I wish you weren't so overprotective, but deep down, if I'm honest, I do care about you and was relieved to see you came by the science fair that day when we first met, and when you started wanting to get to know me."

Luke's eyebrows rose in surprise when he heard April's real feelings towards him surface out of nowhere. All this time, he felt he had to insist on spending any time with her and felt guilty that she wasn't having any fun.

"Really?" he couldn't help ask.

"Yeah, Dad. In fact, I think I have Jaiden to thank for making me see just what a great dad you really are. I just wish I hadn't been so mean to you before."

His heart basically fluttered at the words April was telling him as she looked away, seeming embarrassed.

He smiled. "April, we've all been that teenager who's been embarrassed by their parents. Despite your grandfather and I being close, I've had feelings of guilt of things I've told him and never being able to tell him, I didn't mean it. I'm pretty sure it just comes with the territory of being a teenager."

"Doesn't make it right," she pointed out.

Luke nodded in agreement. "True." He glanced over at her. "The point is, no matter how embarrassed you got or how much you rolled your eyes at me, I was still going to do what I felt was right as your father. Though, Lorelai did help make me see at some point, I also had to let you make your own decisions and learn from your mistakes."

"Is that why you haven't been that protective, the last couple of years?" she questioned.

"Yep," he nodded some more. "As much as I wanted to, I had to step back on some things even when my mind was screaming to step in and be that overprotective dad. Not that I never caved. But, for the most part, I just stayed back and stayed at the ready in case you needed someone to catch you."

"Like that one time I couldn't get a hold of Mom when I bombed that test, my freshman year, and you ended up calling at just the right time," she reminisced.

"You did not fail," Luke reminded her. "You just got a low B."

"Uh, I may as well have failed. It was practically a C."

"A C is still passing, and was the only time you received a grade that low," he pointed out. Luke remembered April calling him the following assignment to inform him, she had gotten an A, all excited.

"It was still a huge deal to me," she insisted.

He glanced over at her. "I know it is, kiddo." Luke turned back to the road, ahead. "I just don't want you putting too much pressure on yourself." He glanced out the corner of his eye, "Remember, you're not perfect and I'd hate for you to make yourself think you gotta prove that to yourself or anyone else. You or Jaiden."

He caught a nod from her. "I know," she replied as a teenager her age would. "I never thought I was perfect. I just don't like receiving a low grade when I know I can do so much better than that."

"Yes, you can," Luke agreed, "but, you were also staying up late and hardly getting any sleep. That can have affect on how well you do on your schoolwork, just as much as studying does."

"I mean, that's gonna be my life, not only while in high school, but even more so when I'm in college."

Luke took in a very deep breath and let it out upon hearing April reminding him of a student's sleeping and studying habits. "Don't remind me," he told her, the fatherly instincts kicking in at that moment.

"It'll be okay, though. Everyone else has survived it," she tried to reassure her dad.

"I'm sure they have." Despite never have gone to college, himself, even Luke had, had nights where he lost sleep. That happened just a couple nights ago, actually. But, being the type of guy who cared more for his girls than he did of himself, made him feel like a hypocrite and wanted April to be a little kid so he could tell her when to go to bed so she could get plenty of rest. Luke knew he had to let April make her own decisions, though, like he said.

Eventually, they pulled up to the diner and parked in his usual spot, which Miss Patty had seen and was surprised when Luke stepped out, commenting towards him, how Lorelai was letting him drive her jeep when nobody other than Rory has been allowed.

Throughout the day, April would ask if Luke was going to call her mom yet. After asking the first ten times, he finally told her, if she kept it up, he wasn't going to at all, and that seemed to do the trick. The diner ended up being really busy that day which was one of the reasons Luke wanted to come in and work. When a slow spell did come through, Luke headed upstairs to finally make the call to Anna and told her about April wanting to stay an extra week than they had originally planned.

He heard Anna sigh. "And, I already told April, she had already stayed long enough. The new school year is just around the corner and shopping always takes a lot of time, Luke, and not just with picking out clothes. She can be very picky when it comes to what binders she wants, the kind of paper it has to be. Not to mention, the pencil search, alone."

"If it's that big of an issue, I can take April, back to school shopping," Luke offered.

She sighed once more. "That's not the point, Luke."

"Look, I know April is growing up and she'll be going off to college, soon," hs said. "But, she really wants to spend as much time as she can with her sister and wants to help out with her before school does starts." Before Anna could say anything, Luke continued. "Whether we like it or not, April is sixteen now. She's old enough and mature enough to make her own decisions. If she wants to spend her entire summer here, I think we should let her. I mean, you have her for most of the year."

"Yes, but while she's here with me, she is busy with school, most of the time, and I have my job and my mother to take of," she told him. "We barely get to sit down and talk anymore."

"You still see her more than I do," he pointed out. "I'm lucky to get a phone call, once a week."

For a moment, no one said anything.

After a few minutes, Luke broke the silence. "It's only for another week, tops. She wants to help out with taking care of her sister while she's recovering. Like April pointed out, it's not like she's asking to stay here, for good."

Anna let out another sigh. "I don't understand why you can't back me up on this? She's been out there longer than she's supposed to, and I haven't gotten any time with her this summer since she left."

"But, that should be April's decision, shouldn't it?" Luke said. "Like I said, she's old enough to make these kinds of decisions. Not to mention, very mature. We have to let her make her own decisions if we want her to succeed in life, even if that may cut in with our time with her." An idea then popped into his head. He didn't like it, much, but thought it would be only fair. "If you want, next summer, maybe April can come out here a week later to equal out the extra week, this year."

"I guess that sounds fair," Anna agreed. "But, it'll be back to the six weeks, next summer, so you'll only have five weeks if we do that."

Luke couldn't help rub a hand down his face. He hated these limitations in seeing his daughter. "Sounds good to me, I guess. I will talk to April about it, see how she feels."

"There's no discussion about this with her, Luke. If she wants to stay an extra week, she will have to wait another week to fly out there, next summer."

"I just mean, I will inform her of this and let her know of the requirements to stay here longer," he explained.

"Oh," Anna realized. He knew this was hard on the woman, not having their daughter home, all summer. It's hard on him, only having April for short periods, every other major holiday. The girl was growing up, two years shy of adulthood where neither of them would have any time with her. At least he would still have Jaiden, but April was Anna's only kid. Once she was out of the nest, that was it. Luke wasn't even sure what more to say that would make this any easier.

Eventually, Luke and Anna finished the call, and Luke headed back downstairs.

The moment April saw he was back, she raced over to him.

"Well?" she asked, eagerly.

"I made a deal with your mom. If you want to stay a week longer than that would count towards next summer where you would come back here, a week later, and only stay for five weeks," he explained to her. "That was only fair since your mom lost a couple weeks of this vacation."

"But, that isn't fair, Dad. I live with Mom. That shouldn't count towards my stay, next summer."

"But, it's fair to your mom, who wants to have some part of your summer."

"I get that, but I only get a smaller amount of time to be here and I want to be in Jaiden's life as much as possible especially before I go off to college and get even more busier than I get now with high school," she started to argue.

"That's the only way I could get your mom to agree, April. She wouldn't, otherwise, so I had to take a risk."

"This is stupid!" she exclaimed. "I'm not twelve anymore. I should be able to decide where to spend my summer."

Luke couldn't help but shrug in agreement. "I agree with you, but your mom isn't budging."

"Whatever," she grumbled out loud before turning around and stormed out of the diner.

"April," Luke tried calling after her, but she never looked back. The teenager just stormed passed the window.

Since she had her cellphone on her, Luke let her be, for now, to cool off. He couldn't help shake his head, wishing he could do something. April wasn't a rebellious teenager, but she sure did have those usual teenage moments once in a blue moon when things didn't go exactly as she had wanted. It was nice, though, how much April wanted to be a part of Jaiden's life when she had been worried the girls would have nothing in common and not get along.

Luke ended up giving April a couple hours before he tried to call her. Since her phone went to voicemail, he went in search of her. He checked the bookstore first before checking other places she might be.

While walking past Miss Patty's, Luke ended up running into David and his friends, who asked if Jaiden was home from the hospital yet. He told them, not yet but she might be home by Saturday. Luke made sure to tell them, he wasn't one hundred percent sure, though. Apparently, the boys had been working on a surprise for Jaiden and wanted to give it to her, so Luke suggested asking their parents if they could stop by the hospital and visit her, there. The boys then rode off towards their homes in a hurry.

Not finding April anywhere, Luke headed down to the lake to see if she was there. When he saw her sitting on the bridge, tossing rocks into the lake, Luke found himself blowing out a sigh of relief.

Heading over there, he sat down beside the teen, letting his feet dangle over the edge of the bridge like hers were and looked around at their surroundings.

"Sorry," he heard her say, catching him, off guard.

Luke causally shrugged. "You were upset," he assured her. "I mean, you could have picked up when I tried to call or told me where you were going."

April pulled out her phone, staring at the touchscreen when she pushed the only button it had, to bring up the time and what he caught as the missed call and voicemail from him. Luke did not understand where cellphones were going with this new look, like miniature TVs or computers, or whatever it was supposed to be. It didn't look like a phone to him, that's for sure.

Turning the phone facedown in her lap, she admitted it had been on silent while she was working since Luke didn't allow cell phones in the diner and hadn't noticed. April apologized again.

Luke stared down at his hands as he fidgeted with one, holding onto his pinky finger. "Listen, I know it doesn't seem fair to you right now. You should be able to spend as much time as you want here if that's what you really want."

Meanwhile, April was staring straight ahead. "I just want to spend as much time as I can with Jaiden while I can. So, she knows how much she _is_ loved and won't have to feel alone ever again."

He glanced over at her. "That's awesome of you, April. But, I'm sure she'll know that whether or not you're here, physically or not."

April dropped her gaze towards the water. "Being here in person isn't the same as calling someone over the phone, or Skyping on the computer."

Luke looked away at the water, as well, slightly nodding his head in agreement.

Time passed where neither of them said anything. The only sound was birds flying overhead or sitting in the trees that surrounded them. After a few minutes, April was the one to break the silence.

"I just can't get those pictures Jaiden drew, out of my head."

"You mean the ones Lorelai found?" he asked.

April nodded at the water. Suddenly, her voice broke. "I don't understand how anyone could do that to a kid."

Luke immediately wrapped an arm around her and pulled April in, rubbing a hand along her arm as she laid her head against him.

"I can solve just about any math equation or conduct any science experiment, but…" April was now full on crying, as a waterfall of tears erupted down both sides of her cheeks. "I just...I just can't wrap my head around the horrors Jaiden had to witness. It breaks my heart every time I see her flinch or see the fear every time I look into her eyes. I just...I just can't imagine what she had to endure. I just can't."

"I know, sweetie," was all Luke thought of to say. "It breaks all of our hearts."

April sniffed in, staring at the water again while holding her head against her dad. "What haunts my mind even more is the image of seeing Jaiden leap from her treehouse and laying there on the ground, completely motionless," she continued. "The thoughts and traumatizing memories that Jaiden has to live with every day and having a grandfather who would push her to try and take her life…" She continually shook her head. "And, to top it all off, to have a mom who would hurt her instead of trying to protect her?"

Luke gently ran a hand along her upper arm as he listened to April pour her heart out.

"I hate the fact I have to leave and have Jaiden feel like I'm leaving her or I don't care about her. I didn't think much of it when I left at the end of spring break, but now that I know the truth… Now that I've spent more time with her and gotten to know her, more... The thought of leaving for several months and not being here for her…" She shook her head.

"I'm sure Jaiden will know how much you care for her, sweetie," he tried to reassure her, "and, while you're gone, maybe the two of you can, I don't know, be pen pals or something? I'm sure Jaiden would love that. And, you girls can call as much as you want or are able to. I'm sure that'll show Jaiden, you care."

She sniffed in some more. "I guess. But, what if she wakes up in the middle of the night, looks over at my bed and remembers I'm not there, and gets sad?"

"She'll have us, and considering Paul Anka sleeps in your room now, I'm sure she won't totally be alone."

"Yeah." She sighed. Even though Luke was trying to cheer April, up, it probably didn't help. After all, she wanted to be there for Jaiden. Bringing up how he, Lorelai, and even a dog would be there instead, probably made April feel like she doesn't matter.

When Luke realized that, he tried to say, "I didn't mean that in a bad way. I just mean…"

"I know, Dad," April assured him. She then sat up, drying her eyes on the back of her hands while holding her glasses to her forehead. "I just wish Jaiden and I didn't have to be two thousand and seventy-four point seven miles apart."

Luke watched her for a moment, trying to think of some way to make things better for her. Finally, all he could think to say was, "Maybe you, your mom, and I can come up with a better solution where all of us can agree on."

April scoffed, staring at the water again. She glanced up at him. "I doubt it."

He shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

"I tried telling her how much I wanted to be there for Jaiden as a big sister. She just doesn't think I'm her sister yet," she admitted.

"Well, you are." Luke insisted, firmly.

"I know I am," April shrugged. "But, you know Mom. She thinks I shouldn't get ahead of myself when the adoption papers haven't even been signed."

"With other things, I'd agree you shouldn't get ahead of yourself if you don't know the outcome, but with this, trust me, April. The papers are going to be signed. There's no reason at this point for them not to be. There's no way Jaiden's grandfather can win and there isn't a reason for Celia to move her, either. Your mom may not be able to see that, but you can. Jaiden is permanently a part of this family and that makes you girls, sisters. Period. End of discussion."

April smiled at that, seeming like she was feeling a little better, now.

"What do ya say, we head back to the hospital?" Luke suggested.

"I'd say, that is a very good idea," she said before the two stood to their feet.

Brushing themselves off, Luke and April both started heading back to the diner to drive back to the hospital.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Tried to have this up over the weekend but it took longer than I thought. Thankfully, I only had editing left to do, otherwise it would have been another week before I could get this up. Hopefully, next weekend I can get another chapter out. If you seen my author's notes on my other two stories, then you know I can't write as much as I used to. I will try and update whenever I can, though!**


	62. Chapter 62

Chapter 62

After Luke and April left, Rory read the first chapter of the book she brought for Jaiden. Lorelai also tried to listen along as she read the first couple of pages explaining the author's morning routine when he was twelve years old. It was difficult hearing a kid getting slapped for having his hands out of a sink full of hot water while doing the dishes, and having food withheld as a form of punishment, then the mother pretending like she was Mom of the Year when she dropped him off at school. Lorelai could tell it was just as difficult reading the book, for Rory, just as much, as she would have to briefly pause to swallow a small lump a few times.

Jaiden wasn't doing any better then they were, either, looking close to tears. But, she continued listening with interest.

Just as Rory reached the part where the school nurse was finishing her daily examination of the author, Lorelai's cell phone rang.

Taking the cell phone out of her purse, Lorelai looked at the small screen to see her parents' number. Taking in a small breath and letting out a sigh as not to draw attention from the girls, she stood up, letting them know she was going to take the call out in the hall and would be back shortly. As she headed for the door while Rory continued reading, Lorelai opened the phone and pressed talk to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Lorelai, it's your father," Richard responded from the other end.

"Oh, hey, Dad," she greeted her father, cheerfully. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks," he told her. "How are things with Jaiden? Your mother and I never heard anything in regards to how the pre-trial went."

Lorelai had shut the door behind her and started leisurely walking down the hall as she held the phone to her ear. When her father brought up the pre-trial, her mind started going a million miles a minute. She hadn't thought of what to say when she would see or hear from her parents, forgetting that they wanted an update.

"Um, well, it went well," she managed to stumble her words out, wrapping an arm around her front, underneath the other arm that was holding the phone.

"That doesn't sound very convincing," Richard pointed out.

Her eyes closed. Lorelai knew her parents had been disapproving of Jaiden going and being a part of the pre-trial when she wasn't needed until the actual trial. In their eyes, telling her father about Howard getting into Jaiden's head and pushing her to jump off her treehouse would only further disapprove.

Her father's voice brought her back out of her thoughts. "Lorelai," he insisted firmly. "What happened?"

Letting out another quiet sigh under her breath, Lorelai worked up the courage to just tell him. "Dad, there's been an accident."

There was a brief pause where Richard did not say a word before he eventually asked, "What kind of accident?"

"Jaiden's fine now, but towards the end of the pre-trial, while we were getting ready to leave, her grandfather somehow made his way over to our table and was able to worm his way into Jaiden's head."

"Worm himself inside her head, how?" he continued to probe. "What exactly did he say?" The tone was already sounding like he wanted to tell her, _I told you so_.

Lorelai fidgeted on her feet, sliding her free hand into the pocket of her jeans while staring at the floor. Not only was it hard having to tell her parents, it was hard reminding herself of what Jaiden felt was the only way out. This was surely not any more easy than listening to the book.

Taking in a deep breath, she tried to relax enough to tell her father the rest and managed to tell him about having to take a few steps briefly backwards, including Luke, when Jaiden had snapped at him and about holding herself up in her treehouse. A huge lump formed when Lorelai got to the part about Jaiden leaping from the top of her treehouse and fractured, not only her right arm and rib, but also suffered a concussion that left her completely unconscious for several hours, and even fractured the skull, as well.

"Before you start with the _I told you so_ s, Dad, just know, Luke and I still do not have any regrets, letting Jaiden attend the pre-trial. It's what she wanted and she was doing so well. The only regret we do have is not getting her, out of there before her grandfather could get any where near her." Come to think of it, Lorelai was surprised Howard was even allowed near them in the first place. They weren't exactly paying attention to him so no one saw what lead up to Howard coming over. She hated comparing the guy to a cute, little fox, but foxes were cunning and smart enough to sneak up on their prey.

"I wasn't going to say I told you so, Lorelai," he informed her, by surprise. "That was your mother who said Jaiden shouldn't be there. Though, I do agree, if Jaiden wasn't needed, there was absolutely no reason for her to be there and put her through something such as being around a man who violated her. However, you are her soon to be parents, and so that does makes it your decision."

Lorelai stared ahead at nothing in particular, in surprise. Though, it really shouldn't come as a surprise to her since her father usually did not share his opinion as much as her mother does.

In a more sympathetic tone, he said, "you said, she's alright now?"

Shaking off the shock with a shake of her head, she told him, "Yeah. We're still at the hospital, but the only memories that are vaguely unclear to Jaiden is taking the leap. Otherwise, she seems to remember everything else, including her mother and grandfather." Lorelai also told her father about what Kenneth had told her had Jaiden lost her memories of her past.

"I feel, Jaiden would be better off not remembering, but I guess in this case, it would be best if she did," he said, afterwards.

Lorelai could not agree more. She'd give anything for Jaiden to not have to remember her nightmares. Sometimes, though, remembering things in the past, no matter how bad they were, can also help a person grow and be able to overcome obstacles.

"How long will Jaiden have to remain there in the hospital?"

"Just a few days," she replied. "Possibly Saturday is when the doctor said she will be able to be discharged. Thankfully, the swelling in her skull is going down. She's still getting headaches, and bright lights are somewhat torturous for her, but Jaiden seems to be bouncing back. She just has to take it easy for the next couple months. Even after her arm and rib heals, she won't be able to participate in P.E. or any sports, for a while."

"That's too bad, because I was planning on asking if I could take Jaiden to the Club, one Sunday afternoon, and teach her how to play golf since it's slightly similar to hockey, only a lot less violent and isn't played on ice."

Lorelai couldn't help smile to hear her father wanted to show Jaiden how to play golf just as he had done with Rory, several years ago. "I'm sure Jaiden will love that once she's all healed up," she heard herself say.

There was another brief pause before Richard asked if it would be alright if him and her mother could stop by the hospital, Friday afternoon, to visit Jaiden. Lorelai assured that would be really great, that Jaiden could use all the love and support at the moment, letting her father know of the visiting hours before they finished the conversation and let each other, go.

Glad it had gone better than she had expected, Lorelai smiled towards the hard, white floor before heading back inside the room just as Rory was finishing the first chapter. "David Pelzer, you're free." Those were surely comforting words to walk back in on as Rory read the rest of the chapter which were only a few more lines.

"I thought you said he didn't escape until the next book?" she asked of her oldest after Rory was finished reading.

"I thought so, too." Rory flipped the page to scan the beginning of the second chapter. "I guess Dave just wanted to start with the ending. The next chapter starts with him talking about good times when his family had seemed liked the Bradys."

"Who's the Bradys?" Jaiden asked.

"It was a TV show from a long time ago," she told her foster sister.

"Oh, the one with a lot of kids?"

Rory smiled with a nod. "That's the one."

"I had a foster mom who watched a lot of old shows," Jaiden explained. "She was one of my first foster moms when I was little. I watched sometimes, too."

"Yeah?" Lorelai smiled, loving that Jaiden was willing to share more of her past. It sounded like a good memory, too which was a plus in her book.

The little girl nodded and turned back to Rory to ask, "Can you read another chapter?" That took both women by surprise. If it wasn't a comic book, Jaiden hadn't really shown any real interest in reading. Guess they just needed to find the right book.

Of course, Rory was happy to oblige and opened to where she had left off, reading the next chapter that was titled, _Good Times_. Since it sounded more positive and happy than the first chapter had sounded, the girls were eager to read about the good times the author once had. Jaiden even perked up, happily at the mention of Dave's nickname, as a kid, being also Tiger, by his own father.

"Just like Daddy calls me," she stated, proudly when Rory had read the sentence. It made them smile the way Jaiden proclaimed the statement.

Listening to Rory read of Dave's early childhood and how it started out as if it was a magical fairytale of fun Christmases, spring picnics, and camping for a whole week straight at a river, was relieving to hear his childhood wasn't all bad. Even if Lorelai and Rory weren't outdoorsy people. Even so, Dave and his mother sounded so close, it made them wonder how things could have gone so sour as he grew older.

The second chapter did bring out a memory for Jaiden, where she shared about her own times with her biological mother.

"We never de-ca-rated for Christmas, but Other Mommy would let me open one present on Christmas morning. Santa never brought me anything until after I moved to my first foster home," she admitted and shrugged, wincing from it because of her fractured rib. "I guess I was on the naughty list like it says in the movies."

"I'm sure you wasn't on the naughty list, sweetheart," Lorelai reassured the little girl.

"Then, how come he never brought me anything?" Jaiden asked, confused.

"Remember when you lost your tooth and I explained how the tooth fairy and Santa needs permission from the grownups to come inside, and that's why we leave milk and cookies?"

She nodded. "But, not everyone leaves cookies," Jaiden pointed out. "One time, I stayed somewhere where we left out rice cakes and soy milk for Santa."

Rory gave the little girl a confused look. "And Santa ate them?" Lorelai had to suck in her lower lip, trying to stifle a smirk at Rory playing along with the whole "Santa" thing and questioning whether "Santa" ate the rice cakes even though she knew the foster parents were the ones who ate them. It was also still relieving to know the kid believed in Santa Claus despite losing some of her innocence, and was still counting down the days until the holiday season.

Jaiden nodded. "They're really good," she told them.

Lorelai had to fight back the urge to argue against that. She did admit to not being a fan of healthy foods such as rice cakes.

"I know," Jaiden said, bluntly but didn't mean to sound harsh. The kid actually ducked her head in shame, afterwards. Her face turned really red in embarrassment as she apologized.

"We know you weren't trying to be mean, sweetie," Lorelai assured her, which Rory agreed, trying to help make her feel better.

Jaiden still looked remorseful about it.

Changing the subject, Lorelai got an idea and asked if Jaiden wanted to practice writing with her left hand since the school year was just around the corner and she wouldn't be able to write using her right hand for a while. Rory offered to go ask someone for some scrap paper until Lorelai pointed out, she had brought Jaiden's sketch book and asked Jaiden, if she minded using it.

Lorelai ended up switching seats with Rory, moving the wheeled table over so they could use it to write on. As she helped Jaiden figure out how to write with her left hand, Lorelai couldn't help notice the kid seemed to catch on quick as if she had used her left hand before.

"I used to use my left hand when I was little," Jaiden answered when Lorelai had asked if she had used her left hand before. "But, my very first foster mom would hit my hand every time I did and said I had to use this hand." She lifted her right arm a little, in front of her. "So, I had to work extra hard at writing and even drawing."

Lorelai and Rory exchanged looks between them. So, did this mean Jaiden's accident and breaking her right arm, turned out to be a blessing in disguise? It also was surprising to hear that there were some that still believed in forcing children to change their dominant hand. However, though, it was an even more surprise that there wasn't any signs that showed Jaiden was actually a lefty.

Jaiden was four years old when she first entered foster care. That was usually when kids started preschool and when they started learning how to write. Jaiden's handwriting wasn't perfect with her left hand, but she seemed more at ease and relaxed while using her left hand. Jaiden surely still had some obstacles to overcome, in retraining herself to use her left hand again, but Lorelai reassured and encouraged her, she could use her left hand if that was her preferred choice. There was already a difference when they noticed Jaiden wasn't pressing down as much as she did with her right. It also meant having to relearn how to draw since Jaiden taught herself with her right hand.

Some time in the mid afternoon, Lorelai ended up getting a call from Jaiden's friend, David's mother, asking if she could bring the boys by to visit with Jaiden, explaining they had run into Luke, who suggested it to them but did not give any information and wasn't at the diner or at home. Lorelai gladly told her which hospital they were at.

Some time later, the boys and David's mom came by, presenting Jaiden with a large Get Well card they made out of a yellow poster board they all signed and decorated with Marvel characters and smiley face stickers.

The boys also wanted to be the first to sign their friend's cast which Rory stated, she was surprised her mom hadn't done so yet. Lorelai confessed she did not think about it, her mind preoccupied on Jaiden being alright. Thankfully, she had a Sharpie marker in her purse and let the boys sign Jaiden's cast first once her and Rory helped remove the sling Jaiden was wearing to hold her arm in place.

After the boys each had a turn to sign the cast, Rory asked for the marker from Hank, who passed it to her. Thanking him, she switched places with him to write a short message. When Lorelai took her turn, she saw Rory had wrote, _You are one cool kid and an amazing little sis, Jaiden. Love, your big sis, Rory._

She smiled at what her oldest had written.

Lorelai wrote _You rock, kiddo! Love, Mommy_ since there was not that much space since April and Luke might want to sign it.

While the kids got to spend some time together, Lorelai explained to David's mother, briefly, what had happened. Apparently, Hank had brought along the extra stickers and was sticking them to Jaiden's cast around where everyone had signed it while they talked despite Lorelai trying to leave room for others.

Meanwhile, Luke and April were on their way back to the hospital when Luke's phone rang. Digging the thing out of his jeans pocket, he pulled the phone open on top of the steering wheel and placed it to his left ear while resting his elbow on the door.

"This is Luke."

"Hey," he heard his nephew from the other end.

"Hey, how's it going?" he asked while keeping his eyes on the road, resting his other hand on top of the steering wheel.

"Good. Been busy with Truncheon and the lot," he replied in his casual self. "You?"

"Uh, things have been rough this week, but they seem to be looking up," Luke told him.

"That's right. The next trial was this week, right?" Jess remembered.

Luke nodded a few times, slowly. "Yeah, it was."

"How'd it go?" he asked with curiosity.

"Not great." Luke then filled Jess in on what happened and the results of it. When he finished, silence followed and Luke wasn't even sure if Jess was still there or not. "Uh, Jess?"

"I am going to murder that bastard," the young man eventually said after a moment, his tone sounding cold.

"No, you're not," Luke told him.

"You wanna bet?" Jess challenged. "If I ever cross paths with him, I can not guarantee a promise not to slam my fist into the guy's skull and knock all of his teeth out at once."

"Well, if you're planning on coming to the trial with us, you're gonna have to restrain yourself with, I'm sure, all those security guards around," he pointed out.

Jess snickered. "Yeah, I think I'll pass on that. Just call me, afterwards and let me know how it goes."

"Will do."

Jess then changed the subject. "So, I was actually calling to run something by both you and Jaiden."

Luke asked, "What's that?"

"The last time I was there, I let the kid show me, her drawings she drew after I let her have the sketchbook, and asked to borrow one of the small comics she made."

He narrowed his eyes when Jess told him, he had asked to borrow one of Jaiden's comics. "What for?"

"I thought it was entertaining and wanted to show the guys," he answered. "They ended up liking it, too, and so, we decided to publish it in our 'zine. It actually did real well and some our readers asked if there would be more, and some even asked if the artist had a graphic novel or some kind of comic book published."

Luke's eyebrows rose at that. "People liked a kid's comic?" he asked, amazed but with a hint of proudness.

"More than I thought would, anyway. I figured maybe one or two would find it somewhat entertaining if me and the guys did. But not this much. It's still not a lot but it's a decent amount where we should probably consider developing on this," Jess explained. "I even considered the possibility, that is, if Jaiden is okay with it, of publishing the sketchbook I gave her and turning it into one of those art collection books that are gaining popularity these days."

"You want to publish Jaiden's sketchbook?" he questioned, catching April's attention, who had been busy with her nose in a book.

"Yeah," he replied. "I think it might do fairly decent, enough."

"But, Jaiden's just a kid," Luke reminded his nephew.

"So?" Jess asked. "Doesn't mean she can't have a book published. I mean, we never planned on publishing those kinds of books, but we have always opened our door to artists. The kid's got real potential and I don't mind helping her reach it, even if it only gets a toe in the door."

"Wow, Jess, that's…" Luke was at a loss for words as he continued to stare ahead at the road. "That's really great of you."

"I can come by this weekend to talk with her about this and go over the details. If that's all right?" he offered.

"Yeah, sure. We should be home from the hospital by Saturday, hopefully, if Jaiden continues to bounce back," he assured his nephew.

"Great. Well, I guess I will see you, later."

"Yeah, I'll see you, later." Luke couldn't shake off how impressed he was, of his nephew. After the guys were finished, they ended the call where he closed his phone in his hand, dropping his hand on his right leg.

"Who was that?" April asked, afterwards.

"That was Jess, he published one of Jaiden's comics in his magazine and wants to see if Jaiden would like to do more, and even see about publishing her sketchbook into an art book."

April looked at him, also impressed. But, then smiled. "That's awesome," she stated. "That would be so cool if Jaiden could share her cartoons with the world."

"You think so?" he asked.

"Yeah, especially at her age. I mean, what kid can say they can make comics for a real magazine?"

"I mean, Jess' place is still a small publishing company so it probably won't be shared with the whole world. Maybe, at least fifty, _maybe_."

April shrugged. "Still, it's a start."

"Yeah," he agreed with a slight shrug. "I should probably talk to Lorelai about this, first, and also Jaiden's caseworker." The thought that even Jess could see the kid's potential and having an opportunity like this, was amazing enough. "I'm not even sure if her caseworker will be okay with Jaiden having her cartoons published, with her name out there."

"Jaiden could have a pen name to go by," April suggested.

Luke glanced over at her for a brief moment. "A, what?"

"A pen name. It's what some authors use when they want to keep a low profile instead of using their real name. Like Mark Twain, who's real name was Samuel Clemens, and I'm sure there's been an artist, or cartoonist, even, who has used a pen name."

Luke was staring ahead again. That did sound like a better option for the kid, but his mind couldn't help wonder if Jess had already included Jaiden's name. The thought hadn't occurred to him in the moment, otherwise Luke would have asked. Now, Luke wished he had.

He had to admit, though, the fact a comic created by an eight-year-old was liked by several adults was pretty impressive. Then again, the comic book Jaiden had made for him for father's day, was also really good, and wondered what kind of comic she had made that Jess borrowed.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I did finish writing this the previous Sunday. Like the last chapter, though, I was able to edit this over the last couple of days.**


	63. Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Luke and April returned while Jaiden was taking a nap and the other girls were catching up with each other. Luke greeted his wife with a kiss as he handed her back the keys to her jeep. Lorelai briefly pulled back to make sure everything with the jeep was okay which Luke reassured it was, including filling the tank on the way there before they briefly kissed once more. That was also when they both stated they needed to talk, privately, surprising the other. So, letting their girls chat for a moment, Luke and Lorelai headed out into the hallway.

Letting Lorelai go first, she told him, "You're not gonna believe this."

"What?" he asked, hoping not to see a patient go by that might freak him out. It was a little helpful that Jaiden was in the pediatrics ward, but there was still the chance to see something, and Luke was pretty sure seeing a child would be even more unsettling on the stomach. So, he kept his focus on his wife and his back to what was going on around them.

"Jaiden is actually left handed."

Luke stared at her in disbelief. Not that he thought Lorelai was lying. It was mostly the fact he hadn't seen any signs that Jaiden could be left handed, except maybe the few times he noticed her holding her stuffed animals and little Diego toy in her left arm/hand. But, that didn't really mean anything. Or, Luke figured, anyway.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Rory and I were helping her practice writing with her left hand when I noticed she seemed more relaxed and wasn't pressing down so hard than I've noticed before," Lorelai explained. "When I asked her about it, that's when she mentioned about having used her left hand when she was little, up until another foster mother had started smacking her hand and had her switch to using her right."

He slowly shook his head, repeatedly. "Aw man. Can that kid ever catch a break?" he thought out loud.

Lorelai agreed with him. "Thankfully, it wasn't all bad. The woman watched a lot of those old sitcoms like the _Brady Bunch_. Jaiden said, she would enjoy that."

"And, how was that not bad?"

She reached over to playfully but firmly smack his arm. "It was around the time Jaiden would have started school and start learning how to write, so that's probably why we didn't know," Lorelai explained. "Rory searched online from her phone and found that it is possible to retrain a left-hander back if they were forced. It takes a little time and a lot of practice. With her right hand out of commission for a few weeks, it'll be easier for her not to forget and use it."

"That's good," Luke replied and sighed. "At least something good was coming from all this." He then added, holding his hands on his sides, "my father was actually left handed and forced to use his right hand in school. I never thought there was still people who would do that to a kid."

Her eyebrows rose in surprised interest. "Wait, your dad was left handed? I didn't know that."

He shrugged. "A lot never did. It was early in school when he was forced so for the rest of his life, he just always used his right."

This time, it was Lorelai who was shaking her head, slowly, and told him, she made sure to tell Jaiden, there was nothing wrong with using whatever hand she was comfortable with.

"On the bright side, this could have made her, ambidextrous," Luke said, trying to sound positive. "I would think a skill like that could be good for drawing. Which, speaking of, on the way here, Jess called."

Lorelai looked confused as to why drawing would remind the guy of his nephew. "About what?"

"Apparently, the last time he was here, when he dropped off that punching bag, Jaiden showed him, her drawings and he asked to borrow one of her comics to publish in his magazine. Now, he wants to see if Jaiden wants to keep going since the comic gained some attention, and even see about publishing her sketchbook into one of those art book things."

"Wait, he published one of her comics? Does Jaiden know he was doing that? What if that was personal?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. You can ask him when he stops by this weekend."

Lorelai looked off to the side. Truthfully, to this day, she still despised the guy, only tolerating him because he was her husband's nephew.

She turned back to add, "So, you never knew any of this?"

"No, it was news to me."

"Doesn't he need ours or Celia's permission first?" Lorelai continued to question.

"Apparently not if he was able to do this." Luke was studying her carefully, realizing Lorelai seemed to be getting frustrated. "Are you upset over this?"

"And you're not?" she snapped, quickly lowering her voice again when she remembered they were in a hospital. Her arms were now folded across her chest, tightly. "When he going to learn to have any respect for others?"

This time, it was Luke's turn to question her. "What are you talking about? He wants to talk it over with Jaiden, that's why he's coming by, this weekend. He wants to help her use her full potential, despite the fact they don't normally publish those kinds of books."

"You mean, he wants to exploit her," Lorelai spat.

Luke could not believe she was still against his nephew, even after all this time. "No, he doesn't. Jess really does want to help her. Why can't you just be happy about this? This is a wonderful opportunity for Jaiden. Get her some experience for the future. _Her future_."

"Because," she replied.

"Because, why?" he insisted.

"Because, that guy already broke one of my daughters' hearts, I'm not going to let him break another. Not if I can help it. I will not let Jess get that girl's hopes up and then take advantage of something that he feels would benefit him. No, it's out of the question, Luke."

Luke wasn't having it. "This has nothing to do with him," he told her, making sure to keep his voice down as not to draw any attention to them. "We can explain to Jaiden that there are no guarantees to publishing a book. Jess, of all people, knows about putting your first book out there and the possibility of it not doing well. I am sure he is planning on telling her when he sits her down. Second, all he wants to do is help. I know that is a hard concept to see, but _I_ believe in him and his intentions," Luke pointed a hand towards his chest. "If you want to believe someone, believe me. Nothing bad will happen, I promise. You can even ask him all the questions you want and I am sure Jess will answer them. Can you at least give him the benefit of the doubt?"

Lorelai hesitated. "I see nothing good coming from Jess being involved," she admitted after a moment.

"Well, I do," he stated. "Besides, it's not like she'll be able to start doing this right away, considering she won't be able to draw for a while."

"What about those drawings I found?" she pointed out. "Those should probably be kept in the family, don't you think?"

"Jaiden has two sketchbooks, remember?" Luke also pointed out. "And, if she did draw more in the other sketchbook, we can ask Jess to skip those. Or, get her, a new one to fill up."

Lorelai searched around at their surroundings. The walls were painted in fun, bright colors and nothing else as her eyes moved around them. She was trying to come up with more excuses not to let Jess publish Jaiden's comics when Lorelai did not fully trust him. Other than what she had already said, her mind was coming up blank. All she could think was, how much trouble Jess had already caused. If it wasn't for the fact Jaiden already had history with fighting, she would have blamed him for getting her a punching bag, on Jaiden lashing out towards that other kid at camp, the previous week.

"Can you please just trust us? Jess really does want to help Jaiden reach her potential," Luke was practically pleading with her. "Please?"

She let out a tired sigh. "I'll think about," she eventually said.

Luke let out a sigh, accepting her answer.

Lorelai just couldn't fully get on board with letting Jess be involved but she at least trusted Luke's judgement. Hopefully, she was wrong about this, especially now that the guy was older, and hopefully mature. She just needed some time to mull things over. They did decide not to tell Jaiden and let Jess share the news when he comes over on Saturday.

When the couple returned inside the room, Jaiden had already woke up and was happy to see Luke, especially.

Going over, Luke reached down to kiss the side of her head over her bandage. "Hey, Tiger. Did you have a good day?"

Jaiden nodded, careful of the fracture in her head and made sure not to move her head too much or too fast. "Did you have a good day, Daddy?" she asked softly.

The question made him smile. "Since the diner's still in one piece, I say it was a pretty good day." He winked for her which Jaiden returned the smile.

After eating the dinner Luke brought, the family played some more Poker with the cards they borrowed until visiting hours were over. They had to pause one of their games when Dr. Taylor came in to do a follow-up, checking in on how Jaiden was doing, checking over her vitals. While shining a small light into her eyes, Dr. Taylor commented on Jaiden's eye color and how they were two completely different layers, noting it was a rare trait she didn't see much of.

"Do you know what causes someone's eyes to have two colors instead of one?" Lorelai asked with curiosity.

"Well, it can usually be inherited from a parent or grandparent who also has it, or by what's called chimerism, where the person has two sets of DNA," she explained.

"Wait, why does that sound familiar?"

"Because that's what I mentioned back when Jaiden was having a DNA test done," April reminded her.

It then all sunk in. Lorelai turned back towards Dr. Taylor, at once. "Are you saying, Jaiden's eyes can be a cause of…" She stopped herself there. Jaiden's most beautiful feature is a result of what her grandfather had done?

Dr. Taylor nodded. Her own eyes moved between the family. "Uh, yeah. It can be. It can also be a result of either an injury or disease in the eyes later in life," she tried to include, trying to make things better. It was already apparent what the real cause was. "If it helps, I know God can take a horrible situation and make something beautiful from it."

It helped Jaiden to smile at least and her smile usually was catchy.

Dr. Taylor finished and let the family get back to finishing their game.

When it was close for visiting hours to be over, Luke headed inside the bathroom to shower and change while the girls were still there so Jaiden wouldn't have to be alone. It also reminded Jaiden that she wasn't able to shower, herself, due to her cast and bandages. Lorelai promised to help her take a bath once she could return home, but Jaiden admitted she didn't like baths, on the count of, she had to sit in the same water she was cleaning herself in.

"You can't get your cast wet, sweetheart," Lorelai was telling her. "It has to be a bath."

Jaiden looked back at her foster mom in reluctance. Not to mention, Lorelai was probably gonna have to help bathe her, as well. It might be a little difficult with only one hand.

When Luke returned, changed in his pajamas, he reminded Jaiden about what he had said during their camping trip.

"Remember what you told me how you used to like being dirty?" Lorelai reminded her, as well. "Try to think back to that." She smiled when Jaiden looked back over at her again. It seemed like everything was restarting for the kid all at once. The amount of stress the kid had, had to be a lot and both Luke and Lorelai wanted to help relieve some of that stress as much as possible. Help release some of that weight the kid was carrying.

Jaiden reluctantly gave in. She didn't like it, but seemed to be trying to put her trust in them once more.

When it came to pass for the girls to leave, Rory and April each took turns saying good night first with a hug and kiss. Thankfully, Rory was able to use one of her sick days to take Friday off so she didn't have to leave to head back to work the next day. Not that Jaiden was thrilled to see her or April leave, even just for one night.

Lorelai was the last to say good night, carefully squeezing the kid in a tight embrace. "Love you, kid. Sleep well, okay?" she wished Jaiden in a soft, gentle tone before kissing the top of her head.

"I love you too, Mommy," Jaiden returned, holding her arm around her foster mom. When Lorelai went to pull away, she got snagged as Jaiden continued to hold on.

"Something the matter, sweetheart?" she asked with deep concern.

Jaiden suddenly pulled her arm back, tensing up as she dropped her gaze towards her lap. "Sorry," she quickly apologized.

Lorelai reached over to play with the ends of Jaiden's hair that hung underneath the bandage. "It's alright, sweetie. You have nothing to be sorry for," she reassured her.

Slowly and timidly, Jaiden's eyes moved up to meet her foster mom's, who gave her a warm, caring smile.

Lorelai felt the kid start to relax a little. It wasn't much but at least it was something. Reaching over once more to kiss her head, she stood up and turned to face Luke, giving him a good night kiss, as well, and told both of them, they'll see them in the morning before reluctantly leaving.

Jaiden watched the girls leave which they looked back to smile for her as the girls neared the door. It took all Lorelai had to step out into the hallway and follow the other girls out to her jeep. On the way, Rory asked if her mom was alright.

Lorelai smiled for her oldest. "I'll be fine," she assured her. It wasn't technically a lie. Lorelai knew she would. But it did not seem like it at the moment. Having it just been the two of them while Rory was growing up, of course Lorelai had been the one to stay with her oldest when Rory had to stay in the hospital. Now, with having a partner involved, it made having to leave when visiting hours were over, pure torture on Lorelai's part.

Luke helped pull the blanket up over Jaiden while she leaned back against the pillow, making sure she was comfortable. A fresh IV was replaced in the back of her hand that she still was not used to and hated. She even asked Luke if he knew how much longer she needed it.

"As long as it takes for the swelling to go down," he shrugged, not sure himself. "Hopefully soon." Though, she wasn't capable to be up and walking around just yet, it was amazing how well the recovery process was coming along. The kid was surely a fighter like the ones she liked to draw and read about.

Jaiden held her head back against her pillow while propped up. Both Stanley and Daddy Tiger was leaning against her left side, inside her arm.

Her eyes searched elsewhere for a moment.

Luke could tell something was on her mind. "You okay?" he asked with just as much concern, as Lorelai had.

She looked back up at him. With some hesitation, she asked, "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure," he replied. Luke was leaning his folded arms on the edge of the bed.

"Promise you won't think I'm weird?"

Luke looked straight at her with a kind smile. "I won't think you are weird, I promise."

Jaiden chewed on her lower lip, searching elsewhere. It helped when he moved his hand over to gently take a hold of hers and rubbed the back of her fingers with his thumb. Finally, her eyes managed to look up at him.

"I...sometimes...hear... Papa's voice...in my head." Her gaze immediately looked away once she got the words out.

"What does he say?" Luke asked, not at all shaming her.

She hesitated. "Not...not to...trust you and Mommy, or anyone else. I want to but…"

"You're afraid of putting your heart out there again?" he finished for her, knowing full well how Jaiden was feeling.

As soon as he said it, her head shot up at him and timidly nodded. The quick motion made her pitifully moan in pain, shutting her eyes, tight.

Luke reached over to gently rub a comforting but gentle hand over her head. She flinched at first but relaxed once she realized it was only him. "Trust me, Tiger. It's never that easy to put your heart out there after it's been hurt over and over again, believe me, and your mom and I don't expect you to just suddenly trust us immediately." Luke tilted his head a little to the side. "We're willing to prove to you for however long it takes. No rush."

Jaiden stared back at him with a worried look.

Taking his hand back and leaning closer, he told her, "You're more than what that guy ever told you, you are. You are a sweet, beautiful, talented kid with a kind heart and a smile that can light up a room. Luke pointed a finger to her head, "I want you to remember that whenever you hear your grandfather's voice inside your head. Got it?"

She nodded her head, carefully.

"I know that's a struggle in of itself, but it is possible. You can do it, I know you can. I believe in you." Luke continued to rub the back of her fingers with his thumb again.

That made one corner of her mouth go up.

Despite Luke's inspirational talk, it was still a reckless night for the kid, causing Luke to have to climb into the bed with her and sing the lullaby. Jaiden seemed to like the new, personalized version he came up with. It wasn't long before the kid was falling back to sleep while Luke brushed a thumb across her opposite, left cheek as he held his arm around her.

Lorelai and the other girls returned with breakfast the next morning.

This time, Luke stayed instead of leaving to check in at the diner, knowing things were in good hands. He did leave for a short time to go get lunch.

While they were eating, Lorelai ended up getting a call from Celia, checking in and also to tell her, some of the volunteers wanted to stop by on their way home to say hello to Jaiden and give her, get well wishes. Since there was a limit on how much can visit at a time, Lorelai told her, it would have to be in small groups. Celia assured it would be. She had let Stephen and Mallory know what had happened, and Jessica had been standing there, talking to her when Celia had noticed she had a message/miss call from Lorelai about the accident. The head director, Mark, and Tyler, one of the other volunteers, also wanted to stop by.

Stephen, Mallory, and Jessica and her husband, Jamie said they would stop by the next day on the count of being wiped out from the last two weeks, plus having to make sure the campgrounds were cleaned up once the kids had gone home. Mark and Tyler were tired but were still willing to stop by, so they were the first from the camp to visit. A friend of theirs who had come with them, waited out in the car with Mark's dog since she couldn't come inside the hospital.

The moment Jaiden saw Tyler, her gaze immediately dropped as if she had been caught and was in trouble for something. Both guys were supportive and kind, and Tyler reassured he wasn't mad when she managed to ask.

"Nope, not at all," he said. "We all have weak moments, sometimes. It's a part of what makes us human. I'm just glad you're alright."

The guys stayed and visited for about half an hour before there was a knock on the door and shortly when Lorelai called, "come in," Emily and Richard entered.

Of course, it was Emily who asked who the guys were.

Mark and Tyler introduced themselves, extending handshakes before turning back to say good-bye to Jaiden and wished her, a speedy recovery and hoped she would be up for the back-to-school event in a couple weeks before leaving the Gilmores to have their turn.

It was Richard who greeted Jaiden first, asking how she was feeling.

Jaiden answered with a timid, one shoulder shrug.

Despite Richard not saying _I told you so_ , Emily basically made sure to, in her own way. Once both of them greeted and visited with the little girl, she turned her attention towards her own daughter and made her opinions known.

"Mom, like I told Dad," Lorelai tried to remain as calm as she could, "we don't regret letting Jaiden be there. Our only regret is…"

Emily cut in. "You don't regret her being there? Jaiden is in the hospital because you felt it was perfectly fine to place her in the same room with a horrible man who clearly still has control over her."

"Jaiden was supposed to be protected, Mom. She wanted to be fully apart of this and see, with her own eyes, justice being served to someone who badly hurt her. There was no harm in letting her be there," she stated, annoyed her mother was having this conversation at this very moment with Jaiden present.

"Clearly there was," she glanced over at Jaiden, who was sitting up on her own without the pillow. The IV had finally been removed that morning when Dr. Taylor wanted to run some more tests to check on the recovery process. Thanks to the medicine, drinking plenty of fluids, and getting enough rest, the swelling in the brain tissue had gone down. Jaiden was still complaining of some minor headaches but Lorelai was able to open the curtains and let in some sunlight, and it didn't bother Jaiden as much as it did before.

Lorelai groaned at her mother's judgmental opinions, squeezing her eyes shut at the floor.

Emily started to continue when suddenly Jaiden spoke up, cutting her, off.

"Leave Mommy alone. Not her fault," the kid blurted out.

All eyes turned towards the youngest person in the room which caused her to shrink back into herself.

"Please?" she added, timidly.

Lorelai was the most caught off guard. Did Jaiden just stick up for her like she does for Luke? Was Jaiden now becoming protective over her, as well?

"Jaiden, we are discussing adult matters that doesn't concern you," Emily informed her. "You are a child which makes the fault land on your guardians, not yours."

Lorelai caught a quick look with the kid, who was nodding in response, like she was accepting what Emily was telling her. "Mom, like I've stated a thousand times, butt out. This is between Luke, Jaiden, and I, not you. We're not fond of this happening, but it did and we can't change that. Just let us handle this, please," she insisted.

Emily stared at her daughter with a disapproving look. "I can't believe you are so stubborn that you are willing to put a child's life on the line. Children do not know what is best for them."

She swallowed back a small lump. "They know better than you think." Lorelai tried to keep her tone, calm without blowing up on her mother, for Jaiden's sake. Thankfully, Rory spoke up at that moment, attempting to change the subject to something a little more cheery.

Richard second that idea and decided to tell Jaiden, the idea of coming with him to play golf once she was fully recovered in a few weeks. While he did so, Luke had gone over to wrap a comforting arm around his wife, making sure she was alright.

Lorelai took in a few breaths, letting them out. "I will be," she assured in between breaths. Though, she couldn't help realize Lorelai had acted a similar way as her mother as she had about Jess wanting to help out Jaiden.

"We'll hear Jess out," she told Luke which surprised him.

He then affectionately rubbed a hand along her upper arm and kissed the side of her forehead. They looked over where Jaiden was speaking through Rory on playing golf but wasn't fully sure.

The shock hadn't fully worn off how Jaiden had stood up to Emily for Lorelai. No one else had ever done that for her. It had always been Lorelai sticking up for herself towards her mother, and Jaiden, no less. There were no words to say. So, she just laid her head against Luke's shoulder as they watched her talk through her foster sisters.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry about being MIA for the past month or so. Work keeps me busy and tires me out, and my weekends have been busy with other things, as well. I don't know when the next chapter will be up, though I am also part way done with writing the next chapter for my other story. Hopefully I can get that up soon, too.**


	64. Chapter 64

Chapter 64

As was hoped, Jaiden was able to be discharged, late, Saturday morning. Lorelai was the one to help her get changed out of the hospital gown and into a pair of her basketball shorts and oversized t-shirts she still insisted on wearing. Though, the oversized shirt did make it easier with the limited mobility of her right arm.

Once the shirt was dropped around Jaiden's thin waist, Lorelai decided to speak up about what happened the day before with her mother.

"Sorry about what happened yesterday with my parents. My mother and I seem to rarely go a day without butting heads, I guess."

Jaiden's gaze dropped when Lorelai brought up the incident.

Lorelai reached out to take her free hand in hers, brushing her thumb across the back of it. "I'm also sorry you had to get involved when you shouldn't have to." She quickly added, "you're not in any trouble, sweetheart, nor am I mad. Surprised, maybe. I do have to admit, I am proud. I mean, you were very polite." Lorelai couldn't help chuckla little.

Her gaze was searching around everywhere towards the floor.

"Hey, hun, look at me." Lorelai was firm but gentle.

Jaiden managed to look up towards her foster mom.

"It's okay to speak up when you feel you or someone else is being treated unfairly or disrespected. Don't let anyone tell you any different. Alright?"

That time, Jaiden nodded her head. It was in a timid fashion, but a nod, nonetheless.

Lorelai gave the kid a reassuring smile before standing up to lift her on the bed to help with her boots.

As part of the hospital's requirement, Jaiden had to be wheeled out in a wheelchair. The girls tried to make it seem awesome, wishing they could be wheeled out in a special chair.

Lorelai had to go on ahead to pull the jeep up to the exit.

Luke folded the front seat down, setting their duffel bags on the floor in front of the back seat. He also made sure to help Jaiden as she climbed inside, holding the front seat's seat belt out of the way. Luke then reached in to pull hers down for her and fastened it, as well.

On the drive home, they listened to Jaiden's CD and to Jaiden singing along. As she sang along to _Life is a Highway_ , Lorelai wished she had her camera with her to record the adorableness.

Eventually, Lorelai turned on to their street, and soon pulled into the driveway, noticing a car parked in front of the house with music playing inside as she drove by. Once they were parked, all four got out with Rory parking right behind the jeep, stepping out herself.

She looked over at the extra car to see Jess stepping out, holding what looked like a magazine in his hand.

Luke tried helping Jaiden out, who instead sat down to slide out of the jeep, being overly cautious. He at least took her stuffed animals for her while she got out and handed them back afterwards. Luke then carried their duffel bags inside.

On the way inside, he noticed Jess standing nearby, talking to Rory and diverted over to say hello.

Jaiden followed, clinging to his right leg.

"Hey, kid," Jess greeted the little girl after uncle and nephew exchanged their usual greeting. "Got some good news for ya."

Of course, Jaiden just stared back at him.

"Why don't we head inside," Luke suggested with a motion of his head towards the house. The moment he saw Jaiden turn with him to head inside, she stopped suddenly and just stood there, frozen to the spot.

Luke looked over to see what she was looking at to see it was her treehouse where everything happened. He gently brushed a hand over the top of her head in reassurance. When Jaiden still hadn't moved, Luke kneeled in the grass to be level with her.

The look on her face showed she was anxious, knowing it was there where they had almost lost her again.

Leaning forward, Luke kissed the side of her forehead, holding it for a moment. It was apparent it would probably be a while before Jaiden would want to go near her treehouse again.

When he kissed her forehead, Jaiden finally looked over at him, who smiled for her.

She was able to walk inside the house on her own, eventually, but the whole time, Jaiden watched the ground at her feet and did not look back up until they were inside, where Paul Anka came bounding over to his human pup. His tail was wagging up a storm, happy to see her.

Jaiden kneeled on the floor to wrap the dog in a one arm embrace, also glad to see the dog, letting him lick her in the face which she wiped off with the front of her shirt once she stood up.

Jess invited Jaiden to sit with him on the couch to talk about the good news he had for her.

She looked towards Luke, who gave her an encouraging motion of his head towards where Jess had already gone over to sit down. He ended up having to give her a slight nudge to get her started before Jaiden made her way over, sitting on the other end of the couch from where Jess was sitting.

"So," Jess began. "I came down here because I wanted to ask you something I thought you'd like to know, especially after the week you've had."

Jaiden sat on the edge of the couch, facing him while holding her stuffed animals against her chest.

"Remember last time I was here and you showed me some of your drawings and I asked to borrow one of your cartoons you drew?"

She timidly nodded her head.

Flipping through the magazine in his hand, Jess turned to a specific page before folding the magazine to only the page he was showing. He then handed it to her.

"I showed your comic to some friends of mine and we all liked it so much we decided to publish it inside our magazine, and it got some attention from some of our readers." Jess pointed at the page.

"But, shouldn't you have asked Jaiden first," Lorelai felt inclined to ask.

Jess didn't answer right away.

Jaiden was looking at the page which Jess encouraged her to take it. She took the magazine, glancing up at him before looking back at the page.

Once Jaiden had taken it, he swung his messenger bag around to dig inside it. "No, I did not ask first," he answered honestly. Jess took out a few pieces of paper. "It was a small comic about superheroes, I didn't think much of it at the time." Turning back to Jaiden, he told her, "I'm sorry I didn't ask."

Jaiden stared up at him. Though, she did not look mad. In fact, they were caught off guard when she asked instead, "Did they like it?"

"Who? Our readers?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Well, let's see." Jess looked down at the papers in his hands to read. "I was surprised to find a comic in this month's issue. I didn't think you published comics. My curiosity did make me read through it and I am very interested in seeing more if this will be ongoing. It may be your standard superhero comic but it did not seem cliche in the slightest It seemed fresh, and I enjoyed it very much."

Luke had went over to lean his hands on the back of the couch while Jess was reading the review. "Wow," he commented, impressed an adult would say those things about a comic written by an eight-year-old.

"That's just one," Jess pointed out. "Here's another one. 'I have been reading comics since… Well, since I could read. I have read every DC and Marvel comic ever written, and while this comic doesn't come close those, this one has my full attention and it is apparent Jaiden has read quite a few, them self. I am looking forward to reading the next part, next month.'"

Lorelai sat on the arm of the chair next to her with her arms lightly folded as she listened to Jess. "Do these people know a kid made the comic?"

"No, we only put her first name to credit her," he replied right away that time. "I'm sure if we had put her age, they may not have even given it a glance if they knew the truth.

"So, all they know, Jaiden is an adult?" Luke questioned, still leaning on the back of the couch.

Jess shrugged. "Probably. Not many kids can make a comic this well. I assume, anyway. Haven't been around that many kids."

"So, what if they find out? Won't they be upset?" Rory asked that time.

"They might. Or, be impressed. Jaiden is always welcome to our galleries we put on, once in a while. It's open to the public, and it gives our readers, chances to meet our authors. Though, I'm sure with this kind of feedback, they won't care, and if they do, well, at least she got the experience. Plus, a lot of our readers remain anonymous, so to them, our authors could be anybody. If Jaiden wants to remain anonymous and not reveal who she is, that's okay. Nobody will know."

"That's what I was telling Dad, the other day," April spoke up from the chair opposite from the one Lorelai was still sitting on.

Lorelai also couldn't help ask, "Why?"

"Because Dad was curious about needing permission for Jess to do this," she answered, pointing over at the guys.

"No, I mean why do you want to do this, Jess?"

Jess just shrugged casually. "Because I see potential in this kid and I think the kid deserves to tap into it instead of having it going to waste."

"So, you're not doing this because this could make your place, money?"

"Believe me, this comic of hers may have more attention than we thought it would have, but it won't be like the kid will be the next Macaulay Culkin," he told her. "No, this is more for fun and to put some experience under her belt than anything else."

Jess turned back to Jaiden, who had been staring at her printed comic all this time. "So, what do you think? Wanna make more for us to publish?"

She stared up at him again and just shrugged.

"It's up to you," he told her. "I know they want to read more, but I can tell them it was just a one time thing. You don't have to do anything you don't wanna do."

"But, you're so good at making those comics, I think you should do it," April encouraged her, which Rory agreed.

"Yeah, this'll be so great for you. I wish I could have had an opportunity like this when I was a kid."

Luke lowered himself onto his elbows. "But, like Jess said, it's up to you, Tiger. I loved the comic you made me for Father's day."

"And, actually, with your drawing arm incapacitated at the moment, you can take all the time you need to think about it," Jess pointed out. "You don't have to give me an answer today. Think it over and let your dad know, and he can pass it on to me. And don't worry about our readers. We can put an editor's note in next month's issue explaining there has been an accident where you can't draw at the moment. Sound good?"

After a short moment, Jaiden gave him a nod, yes.

"Here," he handed her, the papers Jess had been reading. "You can have theses if you like. We have a copy back our place."

Jaiden took the papers.

"The magazine is yours, too," he also said.

"Luke also said something about you wanting to publish Jaiden's sketchbook," Lorelai pointed out when it seemed like things were done.

"Yeah, that was the next topic I was going to talk about." Jess turned back to Jaiden. "One of my buddies and I were talking about how well your comic did, and apparently artists publishing their sketchbooks are a thing now. So, again, up to you, what would you say about having the sketchbook I gave you, published?" He quickly added, "you would still have yours, but copies would be made for people to buy and set on their coffee table, or whatever it is people do with them."

Looking at Jaiden, she seemed to be hesitant again.

"You wouldn't publish every page, right? If there was a drawing Jaiden didn't want to have included, you wouldn't include it?" Lorelai asked for her.

Jess shook his head. "Nope. If she doesn't want it in the book, we won't put it in."

At that moment, Jaiden motioned for Luke with her hand.

Luke lowered his head closer to her.

"But, I use the one he gave me for practice," she reminded him.

He rose up to look at her. "You don't have to publish that one," he assured her. "What about the one your last foster mom gave you? Didn't you say you use that one as your main sketchbook?"

She nodded. "It's bigger than a book, though."

"Coffee table books are about the same size as that sketchbook of yours," Rory pointed out. "So, that would work out, anyway."

"Like I said, you don't have to give me an answer today. Take all the time you need," Jess reassured her. "There's no rush or deadline. Okay?"

She gave him another nod.

About that time, they heard a car pull up outside.

Luke headed over to the window, closest to the front door to see who it was. It was another jeep but newer and red, parked right behind Jess' car. In fact, it looked vaguely familiar to him, like he had seen it recently.

Lorelai asked, "Who is it?"

"I don't know, it's a jeep," he replied.

A man wearing a baseball cap like his but was a dark greenish color, and was wearing thin framed glasses had gotten out. Even the man seemed familiar to him.

Jaiden perked up when Luke mentioned it was a jeep. "Is it red?" she asked softly but loud enough he could hear. There was even a hint of excitement in her voice.

Luke looked back at her from the window. "It is."

Suddenly, jumping up from the couch, Jaiden hurried towards the front door.

"Slow down," he warned, reminding her, she was supposed to be taking it easy, still.

Jaiden immediately stopped running, apologizing.

"You're not in trouble, Tiger. I was just reminding ya. Come on," he motioned with his head towards the front door.

Everyone else also followed outside just as Jaiden's new friends from camp was heading up the front yard, with Jessica holding onto a leash with the fluffy husky, Oakley tugging her along, seeming excited to see the kid.

"I have never seen Oakley this excited before," she stated once they were close.

Jaiden reached out to pet Oakley's neck. Afterwards, the dog ducked away and began licking the kid's hand.

"I think she missed ya, Jaiden." Jessica laughed at the adorable sight. The woman then kneeled in the grass to hold her arms out, inviting Jaiden in for a hug.

Jaiden hesitated for a split second but then basically jumped into her arms, wrapping her own left arm around her.

Jessica held her end of the leash around her wrist while she held her arms around the kid. "Oh, honey, I just about cried when I heard the news."

Jaiden held her head against Jessica's shoulder. "I'm sorry," they heard her say.

It seemed like Jessica was being careful while hugging her, careful not to squeeze her too tight. "I'm glad you're okay, though.

While they were hugging, Jamie, who was holding the leashes of the other two dogs, held out his hand towards Jess, to introduce himself since he hadn't been at the pick-up location when Jaiden had left for camp.

Even though Jess had come out with them, Luke knew he was keeping his distance from the dogs, not really an animal person, himself. Jess barely tolerated Paul Anka whenever he came for a visit.

Jess started to reach for Jamie's hand, to return the handshake, but practically flew backwards when the grey and white husky, Memphis pulled towards him, excited to see a human, who might give lots of pets.

"Don't worry, she won't bite. Memphis loves people," Jamie assured.

Luke caught his nephew mumble, "She might not, but I might." He remembered Jess telling him, he had told Jimmy's girlfriend's dogs, if they bite him, he'll bite back which Luke thought was amusing.

Even though Jess wasn't in the mood to give any pets, the girls of course was. Both Rory and April kneeled in the grass, which Memphis immediately moved over to them. While they were occupied, Jaiden had pulled back to look at Jessica.

"Jessica," she said, shy.

"Yeah?"

"My mommy says that we can be friends," Jaiden told her. "Can we?"

"Of course we can," Jessica replied with a big smile.

That put a smile on the kid's face, as well. "Jamie, too?" She looked over at him.

"Of course," he smiled, happily and held a hand out for a low five.

Jaiden gently slapped his hand. She then turned back to Jessica. "Um, Jessica?"

"Yes, honey?"

"My daddy says we can't go camping because I broke my head and arm and here," she pointed a finger towards the chest where it was broken.

"That's okay," Jessica assured. "We understand. But, you know, you can still go camping. We won't be able to go on hiking trips or anything like that. Sometimes, going to just relax and enjoy the fresh air can be just as good. And fun." She looked from Jaiden to Luke. "What do you think? We go just to relax, sometimes, especially since we just spent two weeks doing a lot of stuff."

"I can help Jaiden reel in any fish that bites," Jamie also offered, humbly.

"And, getting fresh air is always great for the healing process," Jessica added.

"Well," Luke began thinking it over. He looked over at Jaiden, who was giving him a pleading look. "Sure, why not. I guess, I would admit, I've gone camping just to do nothing but to enjoy the peace and quiet."

Jaiden lit up when Luke said, yes.

"Can I come, too?" April asked hopeful.

"Sure. The more, the merrier," Jessica automatically responded.

"Hold on, April, you're leaving in a week, remember?" Luke told her.

"Can't we do it during my last weekend here?" she suggested.

"Again, that's a week away. I'm sure they," he motioned his head towards Jessica and Jamie, "want more than a week to rest before they go camping again."

Jessica exchanged a look with her husband before turning back to them. "We don't mind."

Jamie also agreed. "We love camping. We've spent a lot of time camping before."

"So, can we, Dad?" April pleaded with her dad.

"Yeah, if it's okay with them. Sure."

"You coming, too?" Jessica asked of Lorelai, Rory, and Jess.

"Uh, no, we're not the camping type. That's all my husband and stepdaughter, and now daughter's hobby. I prefer staying at home where it's safe and comfortable, and not in a tent with bugs and no running water."

"A river's running water," she pointed out.

"Yes, but I also prefer to not have fish swimming around in my water."

"Have you ever tried it?"

"Does camping out in a treehouse count?" Lorelai pointed back over her shoulder with her thumb.

Jessica glanced over at where she was pointing at. "Uh, no." She laughed. "That's technically not real camping."

"Well, that's about as close to camping as this girl's gonna get, so, yeah."

Jessica turned to Rory next. "How about you? Rory, right?"

"Yes, but no, I'm also not a camping and nature type of girl," Rory agreed with her mom.

"Oh, you girls are no fun," she harmlessly teased them, looking between the two.

Jamie tried the same with Jess, who instead gave an excuse that Truncheon had an event going on next weekend so he wouldn't have to explain that he too wasn't a camper.

With the camping plans put back into play, Jessica and Jamie thanked them for letting them stop by to see Jaiden. That's when Lorelai invited the couple to stay for lunch, insisting when Jessica asked if she was sure, considering they had three dogs and knew the family had a dog of their own. Lorelai assured it was no trouble at all and led the couple inside.

On the way, Jessica stopped Lorelai. "I wanted to also apologize."

Lorelai looked at her, surprised and confused. "For what?"

"I already told Jaiden this at camp, but wasn't sure if she told you. Some time during the week, after we had gotten to know Jaiden, a little bit, I pulled her to the side and told her that I wanted to talk to Celia about having Jaiden come stay with us, not knowing about you already planning on adopting her. Jaiden didn't say anything about it, so I just thought she was just being shy or was unsure. But when I went to talk to Celia about it, that's when she told me. I felt so bad that I went back and apologized to Jaiden, and assured her, we wouldn't take her away from you if this is where she wanted to be."

"It's no problem," Lorelai assured her. "I understand. Jaiden's a great kid."

"She really is," Jessica agreed. "Plus, we had so much in common with her, it seemed, I felt there might've been some kind of a connection, and I didn't want to see her go through a hundred more places. I'm glad she has found you, at least."

Lorelai could hear the disappointment in the woman's voice. "Well, hey, you're friends now, right? You can still see and visit with her, and take her camping. Maybe you can be like, another aunt and uncle for her. I'm sure Jaiden will love that."

"Yeah, of course. I'm sure you know how easy it is to fall in love with this kid."

"Oh, don't I know it," Lorelai said in agreement, holding her arms folded, lightly, glancing at the ground with a smile before looking back up at her.

"We are also huge hockey fans, and Jamie had told me that he had already talked to Jaiden about possibly taking her to a game once the season starts. If that's okay with you."

Lorelai shrugged. "Fine by me. I'm sure Jaiden was very happy to hear that."

"He said, it did put a big smile on her face. Actually, you think I could get your number to keep in my phone?" she asked.

"Of course." Once Jessica had her phone out, Lorelai gave her, her phone number and also took hers out to exchange hers.

Jessica thanked Lorelai, putting her phone away before they finally headed inside where everyone else had already gone.

Thankfully, Paul Anka wasn't territorial once he realized three other dogs would be inside his home, and got along with the huskies, too. In fact, it was good he was able to socialize with other dogs.

Jaiden wanted to show Jessica, her room. It wasn't until they returned downstairs did Jaiden remember her rock collection and felt inclined to admit what she had done. Though, Lorelai assured she had picked up the rocks and made sure at least most were still okay.

Of course, Luke cooked while everyone visited and talked.

For some reason, Memphis was still bound and determined to get Jess to pet her and would not leave him alone even when Jessica or Jamie would call her over.

"If I pet you, would you leave me alone?" he finally asked of the dog, even though it wasn't possible to receive an answer. Jess reached out to pet along her head a couple times which Memphis panted happily. However, the dog still did not go away. In fact, Jess ended up being the first one to stand when he heard his uncle call, lunch was ready.

Jamie and Jess helped Luke set up the extra table to place next to the kitchen table so everyone would be able to fit, and everyone sat down to enjoy the burgers Luke had made, along with potato salad and mac & cheese. Jaiden wanted to sit next to Jessica this time as they all enjoyed their lunch.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **When I officially went on hiatus, I forgot I had this chapter written and all I needed to do was edit it. So, this has been sitting dormant ever since. This year has proved to be a pretty busy and crazy year for me with my new job, and being able to have new experiences I never thought I would have, that I just couldn't focus on any of my stories. So, that's why I had decided to put all my stories on hiatus. Unfortunately, this isn't me returning. I just wanted to give you all this chapter that has been sitting around waiting for me to edit it. I do plan on finishing this story, just not at the current moment. Really sorry about not updating the last few months!**


	65. Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Later that night, after dinner, Lorelai helped Jaiden get ready for bed. Jaiden washed herself for the most part, but Lorelai helped with her back.

Once Jaiden was clean and dressed, the two returned to her room to find Rory and April had fixed up Jaiden's bed with lots of pillows and blankets to make sure the kid would be comfortable, especially her head. They didn't want her head to roll off her pillow and cause further damage or more pain, so the girls made sure Jaiden had plenty of cushioning.

Jaiden of course thanked them politely and gave both of her foster sisters a one-handed hug before climbing into bed, with everyone spotting the kid. She at least wanted to do it herself, showing off she was indeed a Danes-Gilmore.

Everyone took turns saying good night.

Luke went last, singing their song to her. "I love you, Tiger," he told her, afterwards.

"I love you too, Daddy," she replied softly.

Reaching forward, Luke kissed the side of her head, over the bandages.

Later, when they checked in on the girls before going to bed, themselves, Luke and Lorelai discovered Jaiden sleeping right in between Rory and April. Considering the bed was a twin bed meant for one person, there wasn't much room for three people. Somehow, the sisters were making it work, and Lorelai couldn't help grab her camera and snag a photo of the scene.

The next morning, the family ended up receiving more visitors when Liz and TJ returned from their circuit.

Liz came right over with her arms open wide when they stepped out onto the porch. Ignoring her brother, she wrapped Jaiden in an embrace, looking like Liz would never let go. Thankfully, she did after several seconds, but to take hold of the kid's face in her hands.

"You gave us quite a scare, Jay," Liz told her. "Don't ever do that again, got it?"

Jaiden nodded, pitifully. "I'm sorry," she uttered softly.

Liz just gave a warm smile and wrapped the kid in another embrace. "We're just glad you're okay, sweetie. We love ya so much, we'd hate to lose you."

Jaiden held her left arm around the woman. When Lorelai informed that her new friends, Jessica and Jamie wanted to be like another uncle and aunt, Jaiden was worried of hurting Liz and TJ's feelings as if it would replace them. They then explained to her, how there was no limit to how many aunts and uncles someone can have. In fact, there were plenty of families who had abundance of relatives, and Lorelai even pointed out that their friends, Sookie and Jackson were basically another aunt and uncle for her, too.

"It just shows how much you are loved, sweetheart," Lorelai had assured Jaiden.

It made the kid smile.

"Guess we gotta find a new activity to do while you're healing," Liz gave a playful snicker when she had pulled away, gently touching a hand to the sling Jaiden was wearing.

Jaiden frowned at the realization the riding lessons also had to be put on hold.

"Don't worry, sweetie. I'm sure we can find something to do in the meantime."

"Hey, Jay. Brought ya another comic," TJ held out a comic book with a bunch of _X-Men_ characters posing on the front cover.

Jaiden looked up at the guy, glancing between him and the comic.

"Well, go on. Take it," he encouraged with a nod of his head.

She reached up and took the comic from him. Before they knew it, Jaiden threw herself against his legs and gave TJ a hug, uttering another thank you.

"You're welcome, sweetheart," TJ replied, holding his hands loosely around her head. "Anything for my favorite niece."

"Um, hello," April spoke up at that moment, waving a hand up. "The other niece can hear you."

TJ laughed. "It was just a joke. Of course I don't play favorites." He then reached down to nudge Jaiden with his elbow to playfully add, "you're totally my favorite," and gave her a wink.

The teen just rolled her eyes, but still had a smile when she did.

"Where's Doula?" Lorelai asked when they realized the youngest of the family wasn't around.

"She fell asleep on the way here," Liz motioned her head towards their van.

"Guess the excitement of seeing everyone tired her out," said TJ. "Clonked right out. I mean, if I were to place an open beer in her lap, it would look like the kid partied hard. Know what I mean?"

"TJ, stop," Liz nudged him with her own elbow, trying not to laugh.

Luke just shook his head, sighing under his breath.

Lorelai changed the subject to ask how the circuit went.

Of course, Liz and TJ gladly told them about everything of the renaissance fairs they went to and all that had happened.

Eventually, after a while, Doula did stir from her carseat, and once she realized where she was and her dad unfastened her, she made a dash over to her uncle, who scooped his little princess up in his arms. When the youngest little girl noticed her cousin, Doula reached her small arms out towards April, who took her.

Liz ended up suggesting the family have a picnic at the lake, despite the fact Jaiden wouldn't be able to swim. "But, you can get your feet wet, at least, and maybe help build a sand castle. You, me, and Doula. What do you think of that?"

Jaiden just shrugged, but gave a nod afterwards.

So, it was decided.

Lorelai, Rory, and Liz packed a picnic while Luke cooked fried chicken and made potato salad. Jaiden and Doula helped make lemonade under April's supervision.

Once all the food and stuff was packed, they loaded up Liz and TJ's mini van. Rory followed in her car, which April and Jaiden rode with her.

At the lake, a large blanket was spread out. Of course, Luke tried to protest how they should have brought chairs to sit on instead of the ground, but his protests fell on deaf ears as no one paid any attention. Jaiden at least let him know she was listening.

"Oh, we hear him, sweetheart," Lorelai assured them and reached out to playfully grab at her stomach. "We've just heard it, like, a thousand times."

Luke just gave the woman an annoyed expression.

April also tried to point out a random fact about sitting on the ground where bugs and dirt were home to bacteria, but was quickly shushed by Rory when Jaiden's eyes grew large.

"Remember, April," Lorelai reminded the teen, "we're trying to get Jaiden back to liking dirt like she had before."

"Right," she nodded. "Forget what I said," April told Jaiden.

Paper plates and cups were passed out while they unpacked the food. Luke had taken up the task of helping Jaiden get her food, making sure she had the right portion sizes. He also poured her some lemonade while she held the cup up for him.

When they had sat down, it was decided Doula wanted to sit next to Jaiden.

"Wha' hap'ned," the toddler pointed a finger towards Jaiden's head bandages.

Jaiden ducked away from the finger that was way too close for her liking.

Liz reminded her daughter of having boundaries and not pointing in people's faces.

It was Lorelai who explained to the toddler, Jaiden had fallen and hit her head, as well as broken her arm. Of course, being a little kid, instead of it bringing a resolution, it brought several more questions. Lorelai answered as much as possible in terms where Doula would understand, leaving out the part of why Jaiden had fallen. Not to shield Doula from death. The little girl already knew about heaven when her pet goldfish from the fair had to be flushed down the toilet a week after bringing it home. The picnic was supposed to be fun and happy, and Lorelai didn't want to bring up anything that would take away the fun and happiness. Plus, she didn't think Doula needed to know about that kind of death, anyway.

Thankfully, the topic was changed to something else and they moved on.

While eating and conversing, laughs were shared as the family spent some much needed quality time with one another. The conversation continued even long after they finished eating. Doula tried her best to be the center of attention as two year olds usually tried to be. Of course, her own attention was short, and soon wanted to go play in the water.

April volunteered to take Doula over to swim while Rory offered to take Jaiden to get her feet wet.

With some encouragement from everyone, Jaiden removed her flip flops and followed Rory over to the lake's edge.

Jaiden stopped at the lake's edge just enough where the water level was just below her ankles.

Rory had reached down to splash a few drops of water in her direction and told Jaiden she was supposed to get her back because it was what sisters were supposed to do, when the little girl cowered from the splash. So, Jaiden reached down and scooped up from water towards the young woman.

Rory laughed, shielding her own face. "See? Isn't that fun?"

Jaiden only shrugged, receiving another splash.

The two couldn't play much, but Luke and Lorelai could still see the joy Jaiden soon grew to express as the splashing continued. Eventually, the kid started kicking water in Rory's direction.

"Should Jaiden be getting her bandages wet?" Luke asked in worry.

Lorelai pulled a first aid kit out from behind her, reassuring Luke, they were covered.

"Yeah, but what about her cast? Jaiden can't get that wet," he pointed out.

She waved him off. "As long as they're not splashing too much water, I'm sure it'll be fine." And, it was. Rory made sure both of them kept the splashing to a minimum as not to soak Jaiden's cast.

Liz made good on her word about possibly building a sand castle with Jaiden and Doula. Doula had more fun filling a bucket with wet sand and dumping it upside down while Jaiden helped Liz build the rest of the castle.

Doula kept making more sand pillar after sand pillar. More than Jaiden felt the castle needed, apparently.

"Stop," they heard Jaiden eventually tell the younger girl. "No more. That's enough."

But, Doula kept making more, scooping more sand into her bucket.

Jaiden returned to digging out a hole in one of the firm walls her and Liz had been making, for the drawbridge. A few minutes went by before Doula lifted the bucket and dumped it, forming another pillar, this time where Jaiden had been patting down the newly formed drawbridge.

Out of frustration, Jaiden grabbed the bucket and tossed it a few feet away.

Doula cried out in protest. Shooting to her feet, she then proceeded to stomp all over the sand castle, kicking at the dirt. Sand and mud went flying, even hitting Liz and Jaiden.

"Doula, honey, we weren't done yet," Liz scolded her daughter in a gentle tone.

"Jay too' my bu'et," she protested with her small fists clenched and a pouty face.

"That wasn't very nice, either," she directed towards Jaiden, who sunk into herself, physically, and turned back to Doula. "But, you can't go destroying things when you're mad."

Liz looked between the girls. "How about you say you're sorry to each other? Hm?"

Jaiden of course said sorry first, barely looking up at the younger girl.

"I s'rry, too," Doula replied and held her small arms out for a hug.

Liz had to nudge Jaiden with her elbow to get her attention, nodding over in Doula's direction.

At first, Jaiden hesitated before pushing herself up with her left arm and allowed Doula in for a hug. She wrapped her arm around the younger girl as Doula wrapped her own arms around Jaiden's waist.

Doula suggested building another sand castle and got to work filling her bucket once she went to go fetch it.

"Not too much," Jaiden told the younger girl and pointed out with her finger where and how many pillars they needed. She ended up taking a plastic shovel and drawing an X in each spot, telling Doula to put a pillar there. It was amazing when Doula actually listened and did what Jaiden asked of her.

Lorelai was resting her head on Luke's thigh while he continuously rubbed a hand along her upper left arm. "Looks like Jaiden could end up being a great big sister for Doula, don't you think?"

A corner of his mouth lifted as he gave a short chuckle. "Yeah," he said in agreement. "In fact, Jaiden and Doula could be what the other needs."

With the second sand castle, the girls ended up taking over, leaving Liz with little that she could do while they worked diligently. Jaiden told Doula what to do, guiding the younger girl through the building process. In fact, neither one noticed Liz had slipped away and let them do their own thing, returning to sit with the adults.

"They sure have come a long way, haven't they?" Liz smiled at the scene.

Lorelai and Luke agreed.

"They sure have," said Lorelai, thinking back to when Doula couldn't even go near Jaiden, as well as being jealous when it seemed like all of the attention was taken from her and placed on someone else.

While the two younger girls continued building their sand castle, the adults relaxed and talked as they watched. An hour went by when the girls finally finished. Lorelai stood up to take a photo of the sand castle with the girls.

When Lorelai told them to say, cheese, Doula immediately put her arm around Jaiden as they sat there, kneeled in the sand.

Jaiden flinched at first, but to Lorelai's relief told Doula to move to her able side where she could do the same, wrapping her left arm around the younger girl's shoulders. Lorelai made sure to get both the girls and the whole sand castle in the shot.

Afterwards, Jaiden stood to her feet. All down both of her legs were covered with dried sand and mud, including down to her bare feet. Her left hand was also completely dirty, right up to her forearm.

The kid must have noticed, too.

"You're covered all over, sweetheart," Lorelai playfully teased. Even her basketball shorts and all over her oversized shirt was dirty. Mostly from when Doula had destroyed the first sand castle.

Jaiden looked all over herself.

"How do you feel about being dirty?" she decided to ask in curiosity.

Jaiden continued to look down at herself before looking up at her foster mom. "I...I think I don't mind," she answered honestly.

Lorelai smiled for her. "Yeah?"

Jaiden nodded. "Like when I was little."

"That's great to hear, sweetheart," she praised happily. "How about you go wash off in the lake so you don't track sand into Aunt Liz and Uncle TJ's van?" Lorelai of course reassured it wouldn't be the end of the world if sand did manage to make its way into the van, but it would be nice if they tried not to.

Once the girls were both washed off, Luke served the dessert they had brought with them before calling it a day and heading home.

Rory had to leave again, promising Jaiden she would visit as soon as possible. "Did you have fun today?" she asked.

Jaiden nodded her head carefully. "A lot of fun." A big grin was spread across the kid's face, causing Rory to smile in return.

"That's good. Love you, sis." Rory leaned over to half hug her from the side since that was what Jaiden could give. She also hugged her mom and Luke, good-bye before heading over to slide in under the wheel.

Jaiden was sad to see Rory go.

Everyone else piled into the van to head back to the Crap Shack, unloading it so Liz, TJ, and Doula could head home, as well.

This time, it was Jaiden who hugged Doula, first.

"I love you, Jay," Doula told her foster cousin.

"I love you too, Doula," Jaiden replied. The girls hugged for a bit longer, making the adults proud before pulling away.

The rest also said their good-byes for now before Liz helped Doula into her carseat, and the family headed for their own house.

It was decided on take-out for dinner while Luke, Lorelai, April and Jaiden sat on the couch to watch a movie. Halfway through the movie, Jaiden slid off the couch to move over, asking Luke if she could sit on his lap.

"Of course you can, Tiger." When Jaiden started to climb onto his leg, Luke had her turn around to lift her up and set Jaiden on his right leg, being gentle as possible.

While they continued to watch the movie, Luke placed a soft kiss to her head.

Jaiden looked up at him, upside down which he smiled for her. A smile also appeared on her face. They diverted their attention back to the movie as Lorelai passed the bowl of popcorn down for them.

A perfect way to end a bad week.


End file.
